


By Candlelight

by sidsaid



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: All Hallows, Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BB-8 is Rey's familiar, Coffee Shop, F/M, Fluff, Halloween, Kind of soulmatey?, Reylo - Freeform, Romance, Smut, Supernatural - Freeform, Tentative feelings, Witch!Rey, because i am weak, bookstore, chapter 3 is the smut so you can skip if you like, demon!ben, i added smut, light canoodling, lite angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-01-04 10:48:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 22,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21196424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sidsaid/pseuds/sidsaid
Summary: Newly minted witch-cum-business owner Rey has the misfortune of meeting a demon on All Hallows, who only wants one thing: a Pumpkin Spice Latte.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Akashne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akashne/gifts).

> Happy Halloween Akashne. Reading your prompts, I already felt connected to you on a spiritual level due to your clear adoration of our one true General, Armitage Hux. I wanted to include him as best as I could, because it’s what you both deserve, though I’m sorry, I could not bring myself to write Reyux or Reylux (that is beyond my power, lmao, Reylo is too powerful). 
> 
> Also, I had to split this into parts because I am a fool. LOL.
> 
> [updated note - added smut in chapter 3, so you can skip if you like]

‘Where do you want this one?’ Finn asked, hauling another box through the central aisle, trying not to show the strain on his face. 

‘Just by the back door,’ Rey answered, eyes down on the countertop. The shop hadn’t even opened yet and the till was already driving her crazy. Though with her launch party being this night, and the mania that was All Hallows being the next day, she supposed a faulty till was the least of her problems.

Finn narrowly avoided pulling down the ‘Halloween lite’ – as Rose liked to call it – jack-o-lantern decorations that lined the edges of the book tables, which Rey adjusted with a flick of her wrist without looking up again. 

She heard footsteps again and glanced up to catch the slow approach of Armitage Hux. His face was turned up, though Rey could barely read the expression, as it was mostly covered in the largest pair of sunglasses he owned. He’d brought in the autumn chill with him, though was kind enough to gently close the door behind him. Hux stopped in front of Rey, his scarlet velvet covered arms crossed. 

‘You rang?’

Rey rolled her eyes, bending down and sifting through a basket of bookmarks beneath the counter. ‘I’m glad that you’re so excited to see me,’ Rey murmured before popping back up with a selection of cards. 

‘Well I turned up, didn’t I? Isn’t that enough?’ He sighed, removing his glasses and looking about the room. Tucking his shades into the inside jacket of his velvet smoking jacket, he frowned deeply. ‘It smells in here.’ 

Millicent slinked through his legs then, likely covering the velvet material with her fur before she jumped onto the counter, seeking Rey’s attention. The young woman reached forward, chuckling as she stroked the cat’s head. 

‘It’s just Finn,’ Rey answered, her voice lower. 

The man in question came from the back then, wiping his hands on his trousers. Hux’s expression worsened; acting as if he could smell a corpse. 

Finn frowned but greeted him with a brief nod. ‘All done. Rose said she’ll be around later to help you set up for the grand opening.’ 

Rey grinned and gave her friend a thumbs up. ‘Thanks Finn!’

He waved her away as he went stalking out of the back door and Hux waved at the air in front of him, trying to get rid of the smell. ‘I don’t understand why you insist on being friends with a werewolf, it is honestly beyond me.’ 

‘You know Finn said the same thing to me,’ Rey scratched her chin, before cooing at Millicent again. Hux rolled his eyes at the way she tickled the cat’s back. ‘Why do I insist on entertaining a half-demon?’

‘Stop babying my familiar.’ He hissed, reaching for Millicent before narrowing his eyes at Rey. ‘That’s half-witch to you.’

Rey stuck her tongue out. ‘Do you want these spell-cards or not, Armitage?’ 

He screwed his nose up but grabbed for the cards in Rey’s hand. She let him take them and then chuckled as he flicked through them. Once they were tucked away in the top pocket of his velvet suit, he seemed to relax. 

‘It seems...well decorated,’ he commented, looking around the shop again. Considering the handful of Halloween decorations dotted around the store, it was likely the biggest compliment Rey would receive for the season. ‘A good quality coffee machine too,’ he pointed to the La Spaziale in the corner, ‘and I hope there is a restricted section?’ 

Rey chuckled and nodded. ‘Come, let me show you.’ 

The pair of them moved through the back of the store, through the small arch beside the till, past the stairs that led to her upstairs apartment and towards a door. It had been warded from the human eye and only opened under the touch of a magic user. She pushed it open to reveal a small library containing three armchairs and floor to ceiling shelves that spanned the entire wall. Rey had been collecting spellbooks and magical tomes all of her twenty-five years, and before that her family did too. It was the entire history of the Kenobi family contained in these walls and protected with nearing a hundred spells. 

‘Exquisite,’ Hux announced. ‘I’ve never seen them all together like this.’ He began to move around the room, reading each and every spine, quicker than humanly possible. ‘The greatest crime of our time is the loss of your family.’ 

Rey sighed, smiling sadly. ‘At least there is me.’ 

Hux nodded. ‘At least there is you.’ His hand reached out and Rey looked at it briefly, before taking it in her own. The man pressed it to his lips and then pressed his lips to the centre of her forehead. ‘See you tomorrow.’ 

‘You’re not coming for dinner?’ Rey queried as he let her go and began walking back through the store. 

‘Not possible tonight, I must attend a blood-letting ritual.’ 

Rey grimaced, following after him. ‘You know it’s weird that you do that, right?’

Hux turned sharply, narrowing his eyes at Rey. ‘I will not have those devil-forsaken sprites in my garden again.’ 

The brunette laughed, watching as Hux took his sunglasses from his pocket again and pulled them on. 

‘Coffee before you go?’

He hesitated for a moment, Millicent taking this opportunity to climb him and perch herself on Hux’s shoulder. ‘Very well then. You did get those beans from Nova Scotia like I told you, right?’ 

Rey nodded. ‘Yes, I wouldn’t want you ruining your appetite with anything else.’ 

She moved over to the coffee machine, grinding the beans, and preparing Hux a to-go cup of coffee. He handed her a reusable cup before she could ask, and as she filled it, she could still feel the sting of magic on her finger tips from the summoning spell he had used. 

He reached for his cup, turning it and gripping the handle. A short spell and a soft blow cooled the beverage down enough to drink and he sipped at it steadily. ‘Maz suggests I consider my father dead once and for all. I suppose that’s more satisfying than imagining that a creature like him is freely roaming the earth.’ Hux drank more coffee, closing his eyes and pressing a finger into his temple. ‘My mother really knew how to pick them.’

‘Don’t blame your mother,’ Rey chided softly. ‘Magic is as much a gift as it is a curse. Witches do misguided things for knowledge, power, connection, and sometimes even love. Demons may not be as different from us as we might think.’ 

‘Well a union between the two created me at the very least,’ Hux muttered.

Rey chuckled nodding. ‘And I love you very much, so what does that say?’ 

‘You have a familial responsibility to love me,’ he answered. 

She snorted.

‘It also sounds as if you want to welcome the joining of witches and demons.’ 

‘Well all those incubi and succubi must get rather lonely,’ she responded with a gleeful grin.

Hux grimaced and removed his sunglasses from his pocket once more, sliding them over his eyes. ‘Please do not go around summoning demons to impregnate you. I do not have the time to host an intervention.’

‘I promise,’ she answered with a grin. 

Her adjusted his coat lapels before seemingly looking squarely at Rey, waiting for her to move closer. Once she did he pressed a kiss on each cheek and turned, swiftly leaving. 

‘I love you Armie,’ she called after him, grinning and preparing to clear up and prepare the shop for the day. 

‘Bye love, see you for All Hallows.’ 

Rey nodded, waving goodbye and blowing Millicent a kiss. Once the bell for the door rang, Rey sat behind the till, looking over what she had achieved in such a short amount of time.

The idea of starting her own bookshop-cum-coffee shop had come to her on the Summer Solstice in a fever dream after far too much sacramental wine, and she’d woken up the next day to find she’d already purchased ten thousand dollars worth of furniture, and requested planning permission to turn the empty shop below her apartment into a retail space. Rose had stepped in to design and decorate, while Finn had agreed to help her with the move. It had been effortless and Rey was filled with pride that she had something wholly her own. 

Letting go of her family home had been a trial by fire, yet knowing that the books – their history – was contained safely within these walls was helpful at easing the burden. 

Her fingers traced the grooves in the wood of the front counter, feeling for the runes lightly carved into every surface. Protection runes, runes of good fortune and of peaceful tidings. Some had been gifted to her by friends of her family, who still felt obliged to help the lone Kenobi left in this realm, others carved by her own hand. 

‘Perhaps you should do the seance.’ 

Rey frowned, glancing down at Beebee as he slinked into the room from what was likely her upstairs apartment. ‘You know what Maz said about seances with murdered souls,’ Rey murmured.

Beebee jumped onto the counter, resting his head against Rey’s hand. ‘You will never have closure.’

‘No, I will never have closure,’ she responded with a nod. ‘It’s just us two Beebee. For now anyway.’ 

Her familiar almost seemed to laugh and Rey narrowed her eyes, looking put out. ‘Are you truly considering meeting the Soul Diviner? You know her magic is inaccurate and highly suspect? You might as well use what those humans have on their devices.’

‘Tinder?’ 

‘Yes.’ 

Rey sighed, rubbing her fingers through Beebee’s fur. ‘Would you rather I marry Hux?’ 

‘I’d rather you marry a human.’

Rey chuckled, grinning. ‘Wouldn’t that be fun,’ she murmured. ‘Though I imagine the coven would excommunicate me.’ 

‘At least humans are amusing creatures.’ 

She snorted. ‘I suppose there are worse fates,’ she answered with a nod. Her thoughts fell to Hux again – of the circumstances of his birth. An absent demon-father and the misguided witch who summoned him. 

‘You’re not thinking of demons again, are you?’ Beebee groaned. 

Rey rubbed her lips together, hiding her smile. ‘I can’t judge them when I’ve never met one, and Hux does not count.’

‘Because they are far too dangerous.’ 

‘It was witches who killed my family, not demons,’ Rey pointed out, leaning up off the counter. ‘And anyway, you are here to protect me, Beebee. I’m sure you’ll do a great job fending them off if a demon ever decides to take me as his bride.’ 

‘If I could roll my eyes I would.’ 

Rey chuckled and moved to the coffee machine, wiping it down before making herself a glass of foamed milk. 

‘What’s a demon anyway?’ she asked casually, dismissively, rhetorically. ‘Just a dead witch after a few thousand years.’ 

‘Just because you say it, doesn’t mean it’s true.’ 

Rey waved Beebee away and moved towards the door, turning the lock and murmuring several incantations. 

**XxX**

Hux was knocking back another glass of red wine, clinging onto the bottle of Merlot like his life depended on it. In a suit of pure black velvet with a single red rose in his outer pocket, he easily attracted attention. And then he opened his mouth.

Rey rolled her eyes, pouring more wine for her visitors, wishing them all a Happy All Hallows. It was before sunset, so there were a few minutes before everyone would need to pour out of the bookshop and leave for the night time celebrations at Maz's barn. 

Rey wasn’t quite sure what possessed her to have her opening day on Halloween itself, but it had seemed like a good idea.

‘I’d just like to celebrate Rey’s day,’ Hux mumbled, spilling wine on the hardwood floors.

‘I think you’ve had enough,’ Kaydel commented, magicking the liquid away before removing the alcohol from Hux’s hands. ‘You’ve got to sober up, you’re leading the opening ceremony in an hour, Armitage.’

Rey smirked and as the bell for 5pm chimed, she began to share her goodbyes with her friends. Good luck tokens were pressed into her hands, incantations whispered and hugs had. Hux was carried out by an annoyed Mitaka and Maz was the only one who remained. 

‘My dear, I have something special for you.’ The woman, no taller than the counter Rey stood in front of, approached with a smile, holding her hands towards Rey.

Rey took them and beamed when the older woman kissed both her palms. ‘I will leave my spell of tidings on your store. All who pass will remember, and those who enter will never forget.’ 

‘Maz, that’s too much.’ 

She shook her head then, smiling. ‘It is my gift, you will not deny me.’

Rey chuckled and nodded. The older woman gave her one last kiss, before waving, and exiting the shop, her hands grazing the door frame as she left. 

The young witch sighed, looking about at the mess left over – empty bottles, glasses and bowls of what had been snacks were left behind. Even Beebee had gone for his own meeting, or whatever familiars did when they weren’t bothering their witches, and so Rey trudged around, exerting effort to pick up the crockery. 

It took an hour and two sweeps of the mop to get the shop back to its former cleanliness and Rey pulled off her apron, ready to lock up and celebrate the holiday with her friends. She was checking that the till was locked when the bell over the door rang and her brows furrowed. 

‘I’m just closing,’ she murmured, straightening to turn around.

She took a step back when she did, her eyes rising to the height of the man at the shop’s entrance. An unusual aura seemed to enter the shop and she could faintly smell smoke. He was completely in black, a woolen hat over his head, black hair peeking out and covering his ears. His blue lips were set into a passive expression, and the only thing that stopped her from questioning whether he had hypothermia, was the tight set of his jaw and the glare in his eyes. 

Rey could admit that his gaze set her mind ringing for reasons she wasn't quite sure of. Her wards held though, not currently sensing a threat. 

‘A pumpkin spice latte before you do,’ he requested, surprisingly polite and his voice far deeper than Rey expected. Then there was the ridiculousness of what he asked for.

‘You’re supposed to start with Trick or Treat,’ she murmured, chuckling to herself.

‘This is neither,’ his response was gruff, unexpected and with no humour in it.

Rey looked back at him, scratching her jaw as she assessed him. ‘You are seriously asking me for that?’

‘I had been notified that this is a place of hospitality. You will provide me with that hospitality. It is my right as a customer.’ 

She laughed then, full bellied. ‘I knew something was strange.’ She approached him swiftly then. ‘Hmm what are you? You speak like you’ve been practicing.’ 

He frowned then.

‘A vampire?’ she queried. ‘A thousand years of isolation does make for awkwardness.’ She shook her head, though. ‘No, a coffee would not do.’ 

The smell of smoke was unmistakable and she tilted her head. ‘You’re not undead, are you? Or did you steal this skin from someone else? It smells as if it needs airing out.’ 

‘Are you saying I smell?’ he questioned, cheeks going red. 

Rey nodded casually. ‘Though it’s not particularly a bad thing, just an observation. It's like you’ve been barbecuing all night.’ Her eyes went to the colour in his face, and she tapped at her chin. 

‘Are you not going to make my coffee?’ He asked. 

‘No,’ she answered with a smile. ‘I’d rather jump into Chandrila River buck naked in December.’ 

‘That can be arranged,’ he hissed. ‘I want my coffee’

Rey folded her arms together. ‘Well you can want all you like, but that won’t mean I’ll make you anything that has pumpkin spice in it. What do you think this is? Starbucks?’ 

‘Starbucks is closed,’ his teeth grit together.

‘Tough luck.’ 

He seemed to brace himself, breathing in a shuddering breath. ‘I walked all the way here, you should at least make me what I ask for.’

‘Or else what?’ Rey questioned with a smile. ‘You will make me regret it?’ 

‘Yes,’ he answered. 

She leaned back with a grin. ‘What will you do?’ 

‘Burn this place to the ground.’

‘Not possible.’ 

‘Your wards will not stop me.’

Rey snorted. ‘Even Circe herself couldn’t get through my wards.’ 

‘Pride has been the downfall of many a witch.’

She smiled. ‘And amateur dramatics has been the downfall of every single man, regardless of species.’ 

‘Get me my coffee,’ he demanded again. 

‘Would you please leave?’ 

He gave pause, looking at her far too intensely for someone demanding so much. The man grit his teeth together. 'Fine, I will make it myself.'

Rey rolled her eyes, raising a hand and reciting a simple binding spell. 'You will not be touching my two thousand dollar coffee machine.'

'I can take what I want,' he countered. 

He lifted a hand and Rey noted that his nails were sharp, and black. He seemed to slice through her spell with them and kept moving. 

'What has given you that idea?' 

She moved from behind the till to stand in front of her coffee machine, staring him down. 

'Will you fight me with your fists?' 

Rey smiled then, the expression as cocky as she could possibly make it. 'Absolutely.'

He smirked. 'Buffy in the flesh. Do your best.' 

'You really want me to drag your ass out of here?' She queried one more time, before scratching her chin. 'Or is this some kind of seduction, Warlock?'

'Warlock?' He seemed to balance the word on his tongue, thoroughly amused. 'I would have expected better from a witch as powerful as yourself.'

Rey grinned. 'I will take that as a compliment regardless.' She hummed, looking him up and down. The coat he wore was lined with black fur, and beneath he had a simple black turtleneck and black trousers, his feet clad in hefty Docs. There was nothing particularly telling about his origins, though he could clearly dress like a mortal. 

'Dhampir?'

He scoffed. 

'Djinn?' 

He grimaced. 

Rey grinned wide. 'An Incubus?'

'You seem far too excited by that prospect.' 

She laughed. 'Seems like it could be a fun time.'

'I'll remember you said that.'

'Shapeshifter?' 

'For Mephistopheles’ sake.'

Rey chuckled again. 'A Lich in a skinsuit? You're not Fae are you?' She frowned. 'Hux would kill me if he knew you'd been here.'

'Hux? You know of Hux?'

She narrowed her eyes. 'My cousin.'

He seemed confused by that. 'How?' 

'We share a great-grandfather.'

His expression soured further. 'You are part demon?'

Rey's brows raised. 'I am not.' She stepped back then. 'You know Armitage's father?'

'Hux had a child called Armitage?'

She scoffed. 'Typical. Casual demon child abandonment alive and well.'

He didn't seem to like that statement by the way his jaw tightened. 'Demons are loyal creatures.'

'Only a demon would say that.' Rey took pause and seemed to come to the realisation suddenly. 'Ah...I see.' She swallowed. 'I did not summon a demon, especially one that consumes something as disgusting as a pumpkin spice latte' 

'You witches and your hubris,' he tutted, rolling his eyes. 'Since when is a demon constrained to summoning rituals. I come when I can pass through the veil.'

'For pumpkin spice lattes?'

He grit down, glaring at her. 'Are you going to continue to insult me?'

She grinned. 'What will you do? Smite me?' 

He worked his jaw, eyes glancing at the wards that covered the shop. If he were going to harm her, he'd need a human weapon and even that could backfire. 

'You're a funny demon,' she commented, turning to the coffee machine and grinding more coffee. 'I've never met one of your kind, but I didn't think you'd be as ridiculous as us earthwalkers.' 

'I'm not ridiculous.' 

She poured milk and steamed it steadily. 

'I suppose I have to be hospitable,' she murmured. 'It isn't often a witch has this kind of visitor.' She grabbed for a glass mug and poured the coffee, added another ingredient from a jar in her cupboard and then gently added the foamed milk. 'Though I should mention that I have a poor impression of demon-folk. Abandoning children and pregnant witches, shameful really.'

She grabbed for a spoon and brought the coffee over to one of the tables in the corner, gesturing for the man to sit. 

'Witches should be wary of summoning demons. Some are...more base than acceptable, even among us.'

Rey raised a brow, watching as the man took a seat. She sat opposite, pushing the coffee towards him. 

'Try this, and give me your name.'

He frowned down at the drink. It was laden with foam and milk, a simple pattern on the top. 'How do I know you haven't poisoned it?'

She smiled. 'Are you that easy to destroy?'

He glanced up at her, fingers folding around the glass and dragging it towards him. 'Why do you want my name?' 

'I imagine you aren't going to pay me, so if I ever need the help of a demon, it'd be good to be able to invoke your name.'

'I didn't agree to that.'

'You wouldn't leave my shop.' 

He was silent. 

'On All Hallows. Did your mother not teach you better?'

He looked to the side, rather awkward. 'She did,' he muttered. 

Rey smiled. 'That's good to know that demons at least can have disciplined early years.' She pushed the glass again. 'Now drink and give me your name.'

He frowned and lifted the glass, sipping at it gingerly. ‘You can call me Ben.' His expression lit up then. 'What is this? It's good.' 

She narrowed her eyes, not quite believing that was his name. 'My secret ingredient. I feel obligated to tell you that if you ever find yourself in this realm again, that you do not look for a pumpkin spice latte.'

'So I should come here?' 

'I did not say that.' 

'You don't want me here?' 

'You have an interesting way of interpreting words.' Rey was smiling however, watching him drink. 

He drank, as happy as Rey thought a demon could be and she stood, untying her hair and sighing. She glanced at the clock and her eyes passed to the windows, noting that she had missed her sunset ritual, and the opening ceremony that would have been led by Armitage. 

'What brought you to my shop specifically?’ 

‘I said before, the notification.’ 

Rey scratched her head, knowing that it hadn’t been a spell she had cast, though it could possibly be what Maz had done. 

‘There is a spell that notifies passerbys that all are welcome. I knew a witch owned this place, so I picked it over a human coffeeshop.’ 

‘Why? Do you have something for witches?’

He didn’t reply immediately and Rey cackled, clapping her hands together. ‘Perhaps you should have been born an Incubus. It seems like it would have suited you perfectly.’

‘Considering your sensibilities, this would be a very different conversation if I were,’ he countered, looking at her purposefully. 

Rey held her tongue then, turning back around and moving towards her till again, pretending to check it once more. She reached beneath her counter and removed her notebook, making a quick note. 

_ Demons are much more like us than anticipated. _

_ Have the ability to be humorous. _

_ Can be rather attractive _ – _ doesn’t seem particularly necessary. _

_ Have a penchant for the beverages of mortals. _

Rey smiled wide as she read over her words, looking to Ben again, who looked a curious mix of confused and interested in what she was doing, though he did not say anything.

‘You said you come when the veil is thinnest? 

He nodded. ‘It’s a few times a year. I suppose they fall on your days of celebration.’

‘Fascinating,’ she murmured to herself, writing things down again, before meeting his eyes again. They reminded Rey of the caramels her grandmother used to carry. Forged in fire, but sweet and warm. She blinked, trying to concentrate on something other than the demon’s features – no matter how lovely they were. 

‘As you are here and I imagine you don’t get to visit often, would you like to celebrate All Hallows with me and my friends?’ Rey asked, summoning her cloth and wiping down the surfaces once more. 

‘I thought I was a nuisance.’ 

Rey smiled to herself nodding in agreement. ‘Yes, but a lot more entertaining than I expected.’

‘Why do you not fear me?’ 

She shrugged. ‘You haven’t done anything remotely frightening. You’ve mostly been an idiot.’ 

‘I’m not an idiot.’

‘Oh you absolutely are. At least you’re an idiot with better taste now.’ 

‘I won’t come back.’ 

Rey snorted. ‘An unusual threat from a demon.’

He seemed to stumble over his words. ‘I will...I will send an Incubus your way,’ he attempted. 

She grinned. ‘Is it common for demons to be so excessively cute? I think the historians have got it all wrong.’ Rey glanced down at her notepad again and began writing, speaking her words outloud. ‘The Demon who visited my shop on All Hallows was almost Nymph-like in his countenance. Well spoken, well dressed and constantly stumbling over his words. Not the raisers of hell-fire like we have been taught to believe.’ 

‘Erase that,’ he grumbled. 

Rey placed the paper down and moved toward the coat rack where her own jacket hung. She checked her pockets for her keys and then began turning the lights off. 

‘I would suggest visiting on a less busy day, Ben. We can have a nice sit-down and talk about our childhoods.’ 

‘I’m not coming again,’ he answered, no heart in the words. 

‘But the progress we could make to society,’ she proclaimed, shaking her head and sighing. 

Rey pulled her hat onto her head and she ushered Ben out of the front door and into the cold. He shivered almost immediately and she turned to lock the door. It had three locks and once she was done, Ben was still standing behind her, his lips blue. He looked awkward; his Docs shifting on the damp pavement, kicking lightly at the maple-coloured leaves that had been scattered by the trees that lined the street. 

‘Honestly,’ she mumbled. 

He pouted, seemingly angry and Rey just laughed. His hands were bare and she pulled her gloves from her pocket, taking up his icy hands and forcing the gloves over his long-nailed fingers. It took some elbow grease and an enlargening spell, but they went on. Then she rubbed her hands together, whispering into them and conjuring a small flame that she held between them. Her hands then reached to his face, holding his cheeks until some colour returned to his lips. 

Rey felt her own cheeks redden as he stared at her in a way that was too intense for a casual meeting of strangers. He looked as if he were trying to stare into her soul and unlock every hidden thought she’d ever had. 

‘Home is much warmer than here.’ He said, his expression finally easing, seemingly satisfied with what he had seen. 

‘I’ve heard,’ she murmured, chuckling to herself. It was quite nice to baby the handsome demon in front of her. She hadn’t quite realised it before. ‘Now are you coming with me, or going elsewhere?’ 

‘As a demon or as a man?’ 

Rey tilted her head, rubbing her hands together again. She didn’t quite understand and didn’t know the question to ask that would allow him to enlighten her either. 

‘You can be whatever you want to be,’ she decided on, before pausing, waiting for his answer.

‘I will follow.’

She snorted and approached her scooter, which sat on the edge of the curb. She reached into the seat and removed a helmet and held it out to Ben. He looked at it with confusion before taking it and pulling it over his head. Rey did the same and gestured for him to get on first. 

‘We’re not far, so just hold on tight, okay?’ 

He nodded and she climbed on in front of him and lifted the footstand. Rey glanced up and down the road before setting off, Ben’s arms tightening around her waist, shivering from cold or fright she wasn’t quite sure. 

Ben was silent as they went and Rey wondered what he could have possibly been thinking. The scholar in her blood wanted to grill him with questions, and she had to admit, it wasn’t every day that a Demon showed up at your door. Especially one asking for a Pumpkin Spice Latte.

Rey pulled off the road and into the West entrance to the Chandrila Woods, turning her beams up and taking it slower through the trees. It was a mile before they could hear the sound of music and the smell of a bonfire. She slowed, pulling the bike into a stop and kicking out the footstand. 

Ben stood, pulling the helmet off his head and tossing his locks with a hand. Rey took the helmet from him and put them both into the seat before she stretched and looked over at him. 

‘Who are you tonight?’

‘Ben...the earthwalker.’ 

Rey chuckled and nodded. ‘As you wish.’

She led the way down the short cobbled path towards the outfitted barn. It was Maz’s and had been hers for as long as Rey and her parent’s could remember. While Maz and her family didn’t live in it any longer, it was perfect for festival meetings, as well as weekly Coven meetings. 

Rey was greeted on entry by far too much noise, and kisses were pressed to her cheeks and forehead, and prayers whispered for her sake. She noticed when eyes fell from her that they went to the tall demon at her side. 

‘Why do you look so angry?’ Rey whispered, elbowing him. 

‘I’m not angry.’

‘Just smile,’ she added, receiving another hug.

He complied and those who passed eased into shaking his still-gloved hand, introducing themselves and expecting the same from Ben. 

‘So you’ve found yourself a human sacrifice,’ Hux commented, swaggering towards the pair of them, a glass of wine in his hand. He seemed to have sobered up minutely, probably as a result of a tonic administered by Kaydel. 

‘Hux?’

The red-head seemed to be affronted by that, staring at the demon and then looking at Rey. ‘Do I know him?’ he looked back at him. ‘Do I know you?’

‘No you don’t Armie, don’t worry.’ 

He frowned, and then lowered his head to Rey. ‘You’re supposed to tell me these things before hand.’ 

‘You sound as if we are getting married tomorrow and you were invited last minute.’ 

Hux hissed and drained his glass. 'Who is he?'

'My friend.'

'I know all of your friends.'

Rey rolled her eyes. 'Just be nice, this is Ben.'

Ben was looking over Hux carefully, clearly seeing something that Rey herself could not. 

'Your father was a terrible demon,' he said casually. 

Rey whipped around at him. 'Ben.' She facepalmed, while Hux grew red and then suddenly sombre. 

'I didn't think he would have been a particularly good one.' 

Hux's shoulder was bumped by a passing Jessika and she turned, looked him in the eye and then laid a hand on his shoulder. 'I have something that will do just the trick.' 

'An empath?' Ben questioned once the fellow witch had carted the man away. 

Rey narrowed her eyes at him. 'You can't just do that.' 

'You said his father had abandoned him, I thought he might want a reason.' He countered.

She breathed out heavily.

'He is gone, regardless.'

'Gone?'

'Dead, I suppose.' 

Rey sighed, her eyes following Hux again. Ben folded his arms across his body, trying to restrain his body heat in his own body. 

'Your parents. Who are they?'

'Now is not the time to talk about family,' Rey answered, pushing through the rest of the crowd and gunning for the drinks table. She took up two glasses of punch and handed one to Ben. He took it with a frown. 

'When would be the time?' 

'Are demons always so relentless?' 

He frowned. 'Isn't this what people do? I'm asking you questions.'

Rey snorted softly and sipped at her drink. It was a touch too sweet, so she poured some more water into it. 

'How do you know this is what people do?'

'I watch.'

Her brows furrowed. 'I thought you could only visit when the veil is thinnest?' 

'There are always ways to view this realm. I'm sure there are ways to view ours, though I doubt you witches would be interested.'

'I am definitely interested.'

Ben looked unconvinced, his mouth in a flat line and his eyes glancing between hers. 'What do you expect is there?'

Rey shrugged. 'Every book has a different interpretation of hell, the demonic realm, the underworld. I'd like to hope that there is minimal fire and brimstone. I've always fancied the Ancient Greek approach, a place of no particular malevolence, just penance and rebirth.' 

'The demon realm is not where the dead go.' Ben answered. 

She smiled, savouring that information. 

'It is...a place. Like this is. But demons are…' he was serious as he considered his next words. 'Difficult. Stories you have heard are likely true.' 

'Malevolence? Tricksters? Sycophants?' 

'As much as humans–earth walkers are corrupted, so are demons. The only difference is, we have time to worsen. Though even we have rules. We have roles to play.'

Rey was quiet for a moment, sipping her drink. She met Ben's eyes and swallowed. Amber, like honey from the bees that drank buckwheat nectar. Quite beautiful. The thought amused her. A beautiful demon? 

'What's your role?' She asked. 

'Don't you ever think there's a reason this world knows little of ours? Or a reason that we do not live among you?' 

'You have better weather?'

He smiled, wry. 'I like it here more, even if it's cold. You have pumpkin spice lattes.'

'I was hoping you had quit that.'

'Never.'

Rey sighed and drank back the rest of her punch. 'Tell me, what possible punishment could I get? Have an imp sicked on me?'

Ben snorted. 'Imps don't exist, and are you forgetting that I'd be the leak?' 

'It's not like I'd be jailed. I can defend myself pretty well.’

‘I’d like to see that.’ 

She grinned. ‘You might not want to get caught in the crossfire.’ 

Rey topped up their drinks and she glanced up at the upper level of the barn. It was mostly empty and it would be a few hours until the fireworks. ‘Let’s go up there,’ she murmured, automatically taking Ben’s gloved hand, grabbing a bottle of wine with the other and pulling him up a steep set of stairs. They both sat on an old couch that wheezed with their weight, and Rey handed Ben the blanket that had been folded on one of the arms. 

Ben reached for the lantern above them and Rey lit it before he put it back, the two of them soaked in warm candlelight. 

‘You’re very talented,’ he stated. ‘I have not seen many witches with a propensity for the element like you.’ 

Rey smiled. ‘My father taught me.’ 

‘You would not tell me who your family are.’

‘I am my family,’ she answered with a slight frown, sipping at her glass. 

Ben looked into his glass, watching the liquid move within the container, his hand only shaking slightly from the cold. ‘I am the last of my line also,’ he murmured.

Rey leaned back and her eyes watched the flickering flame in the lantern for several moments. ‘I suppose we have more in common than we both anticipated.’

He hummed lightly, staring at her, his eyes passing over her features again. Rey watched him do so, wondering what he was looking for, what he was looking at. His gaze didn’t remain on any specific location for very long, yet it did not make her feel uncomfortable either.

They both finished their drinks in silence and Rey uncorked the bottle of red, pouring them both a cup-full. Ben watched the deep scarlet liquid for a moment before looking up at Rey once more. 

‘Do you usually invite demons to your coven parties?’ He questioned, a twist in his mouth that Rey read as him trying to figure her out.

She chuckled lightly. ‘If they were as interesting as you, perhaps. Naturally that interest is purely scholarly.’ 

‘Scholarly?’ He mused aloud. 

Rey raised a brow, drinking wine and feeling her stomach warm with the beverage. It seemed to seep into her bones and she gestured to Ben to drink up to get warmer. ‘Yes, scholarly. If you hadn’t noticed, I run a bookshop.’

‘I did not get a very good look at it.’

‘Tunnel vision for Pumpkin Spice?’

‘What do you have against it?’

Rey snorted. ‘It’s a disgraceful intimation of coffee. Too sweet, masks the flavour of the coffee and badly composed altogether.’ 

‘You have strong opinions on coffee.’ 

She nodded. ‘If there is one thing that I can argue about, it is poorly processed coffee.’

‘I now understand why they say witches are idle creatures,’ he murmured mostly to himself, draining his cup and reaching for the bottle between them for a refill. 

Rey glared daggers, but then Ben was laughing loudly, his head knocked back as he caught her expression. 

He was making fun of her, and Rey wasn’t quite sure how to take that. Not because she didn’t deserve it, but the fact that his seriousness had dissipated and a softer creature seemed to sit beside her. His smile was warm and eyes earnest as he looked at her, head tilted slightly as if expecting a response.

‘I am beginning to expect you are quite unique among your kin.’ 

‘What do you mean?

‘Would many of them travel here just for a hot beverage?’

He was silent for a moment. ‘I suppose no.’

‘It makes me think that perhaps you do have a thing for witches.’

‘I would counter with the suggestion that, that’s narcissism on your part.’

Rey took a sip of her newly refilled cup of red wine, considering his words. ‘I suppose you’re right. That would be quite unfair of me.’

‘I like coming here. Humans are quite interesting at the very least. It’s strange that they are surrounded by all these creatures, but barely notice.’ 

She chuckled. ‘It can be nice to be seen as the person first.’

‘What do you think they would say of me?’ Ben questioned. Rey couldn’t read his expression, and wondered over what kind of answer he was seeking from her. Why he would even ask it. She wouldn’t have expected a demon to care what a human thought of them. 

Her silence created an uncertain strain in his brow and Rey could sense his discomfort as if it were her own. It was peculiar, and she briefly internally wondered if there was something occurring beyond them. Whether her magic or even his, was creating this strange connection between them. 

She smiled. ‘Well _ I _ would say that you are quite stubborn, intelligent though you know it far too well.’ Her own words made her chuckle, because she felt as if she were describing herself. ‘A good listener, I think, though I’m sure there is a lot more about you that I haven’t quite figured out yet.’ 

Rey drank back more of her wine, feeling the buzz in her fingers and toes. Ben still had his brows fixated and drawn together. ‘You’re being honest?’

‘Why wouldn’t I be?’ she asked with a raised brow. ‘I don’t have a penchant for lying without reason.’ 

‘You have no reason to be honest with me.’

‘You asked me a question.’ 

His expression was still sour against Rey and she began to laugh, thinking that perhaps he was ridiculous too. The laughter seemed to snap him out of it and his face relaxed as he watched her in her mirth. He sipped on the wine, draining the cup for a second time. 

‘Your answer surprised me,’ he murmured eventually, his cup discarded on the table beside him. 

Rey drained her own cup, savouring the taste and the steady buzz of tipsiness that had begun to descend over her. ‘I strangely feel like this was meant to happen,’ Rey said casually. 

Her thoughts went to the Soul Diviner. A witch who could seemingly find your perfect match, based on what, Rey was not sure. 

‘You believe in fate?’ He asked

‘You do not?’ 

‘Maybe not fate, maybe just the inevitable.’ His eyes went to his boots and he shifted his feet on the wooden floor. ‘You should not think of me as fated to meet you.’ 

Rey chuckled and put her cup beside her on the floor and folded her legs up under her. ‘Yet I will anyway.’

Ben glanced at her, and Rey could see he was trying not to frown, and she suddenly thought that she had perhaps made him feel uncomfortable. He spoke before she could say anything, though. 

‘Has it ever been good tidings to meet a demon?’ He questioned absently. 

‘Ah, so you’re a pessimist too.’ 

‘A realist,’ he corrected. ‘I will not try and convince you.’ 

Rey snorted. ‘I just remembered that you are quite dramatic too.’ She turned to fully face him and he met her eyes, his scattering between hers. ‘Life isn’t as fun when you consider that everything is mere chance with no connection to anything else.’ His mouth turned and she could practically hear his response from his own mind. ‘Yes, it’s a very mortal response, I know.’

‘I don’t know what to think when I look at you.’ His admission was paired with a frown, and Rey thought it was something best to think of later.

‘Do you have horns beneath your hat?’ She asked as politely as possible after two glasses of wine, therefore completely changing the subject.

‘Yes.’ Ben pulled the beanie from his head and revealing two ebony curved horns that began just behind his hair line and curved backwards, disappearing into his thick wavy hair and ending not far behind his ears. They were easy to hide, but present all the same. 

Rey knelt up on the sofa, looking at the horns, deciding she shouldn’t touch without permission, so used her sight instead.

‘You can touch them.’ 

‘You won’t be ticklish or something? Fae get ticklish with their horns.’

Ben shook his head. ‘It’s more like how teeth feel when you touch them. Connected to a nerve but without sense.’ 

‘Is it common to have horns among demons?’ she questioned.

He nodded. ‘Yes, in different places, of varying lengths and colours. I know a demon who has a horn instead of an eye.’ 

‘Sounds like it could cause accidents,’ Rey answered seriously.

Ben chuckled and he watched her lift her hand and gently touch his horns. Her fingers was light and inquisitive, feeling where they connected to his scalp – which did tickle, and then feeling their strength. 

‘Do other demons look much like you?’ she asked, her forefinger still drifting over the ridges of his horn – feeling the soft edge of the tip. Her fingers grazed through his hair before she dropped her hands back to her lap.

‘What do you mean look much like me?’ He questioned.

Rey’s eyes caught on his again, falling into the honey colour and she hiccoughed, laughing with her tipsiness at the thought that perhaps super-seduction was his secret power. ‘You are quite beautiful,’ she murmured. Her finger reached to touch his high cheekbones, the arch of his brows, along his angular nose and to his cupids bow. She took her hand back quickly then and Ben stared at her, his mouth slightly agape. 

‘I am beautiful?’ He questioned. 

She nodded, smiling. ‘Is there anything you specialise in?’ She questioned, changing the subject once more. ‘I am best at elemental spells and wards.’ 

Ben didn’t respond for some time before he straightened and cleared his throat. ‘We do not really use spells, as our magic is mostly inherent, though I am best at moving things. Summoning, telekinesis, things like that.’ 

‘Hmm,’ she nodded. ‘Armie is much the same. Though I suppose it’s also why he requires so many of my spellcards,’ she said amusedly.

‘You love him very much?’

Rey nodded. 

Ben looked to his gloved hands and then back at Rey. ‘Is it easy to love him? Even with what he is?’ 

‘I expect I would love him even if he were a full-demon, though then he wouldn’t really be my cousin, I suppose.’ She murmured, tapping her chin with a finger. ‘Why do you ask that? He is a good man, even if he is ridiculous.’ 

‘People say demons are incapable of love or of being loved,’ he answered lowly.

‘Do you believe that about yourself?’ she questioned. 

Ben shook his head. 

Rey snorted and poked him in the shoulder. ‘Why would you listen to anyone else? You know your own heart.’ 

‘I suppose you are right.’ 

She smiled. ‘Of course I’m right. I am your teacher of all things earth-bound. Remember that.’

He chuckled and nodded. ‘I will remember.’

A bell was rung then and they both looked towards the source. They were being called down for the fireworks show and the subsequent ritual that would follow. 

‘Should I join in? I’m not a witch.’ Ben murmured in Rey’s ear, unsettling the hair by her temple and sending a quick tingle down her throat from the sudden closeness.

‘I’m sure you have just as much magic as the rest of us,’ she answered.

He shivered as soon as they were outside and Rey began to rub her hands together again, chuckling as Ben looked at her with anticipation. The flame did not disappear this time however, and she hung it just above them; it dancing in the light breeze, coating their faces in warmth. 

‘I think next time you should wear some long underwear underneath your clothes,’ Rey murmured with a chuckle.

‘I’ll think about it.’ 

‘You’ll also owe me a pair of gloves.’ she added. 

‘Are your hands cold?’ 

She flexed her fingers and nodded. ‘All your fault.’ 

‘Well then I have no choice,’ he answered.

Her brow raised and then Ben was taking one of her hands in his own, folding her bare fingers between his gloved ones and then sticking their hands in his coat pocket. 

The crowd continued to gather and their eyes reached the skies, though Rey was staring resolutely at the demon holding her hand. Even if he wasn’t warm, the situation itself had her sweating at her throat and she closed her eyes, trying to clear her own dizzy mind. Trying to clear thoughts of this being nice. 

‘I’ve never seen fireworks before,’ Ben murmured just before the whistling of chrysanthemum fireworks careened over their heads and exploded into purples and reds above them. 

Ben’s hand tightened in her own as lights cascaded across the night sky. As it rained blue and green Ben glanced down at Rey, halting when he noted that Rey was staring at him, the reflection of fireworks breaking in her eyes. 

The people around them were loud; the fireworks louder and Rey decided that the thumping in her ears was because of the mini explosions, not because of her heart beating steadily faster and out of her control. 

The show lasted for ten minutes and Rey realised that when it had ended, she hadn’t seen a single firework. 

‘Hey Rey, do you want to lead the ritual?’ Kaydel called from a few metres away.

Rey’s attention snapped away from Ben and she took her hand back, slipping it from his pocket. Kaydel reached for her and she looked briefly back at Ben as she was walked to the bonfire. His hands were in his pockets, the flame making his eyes shimmer. 

She sighed softly, pretending that she wasn’t thinking about how close he had been standing to her, that if she had just gotten onto her tip-toes, she could have pressed their lips together. 

Holding her hand out towards the fire, she closed her eyes and let the magic flow through her fingers as she began to recite the words. Rey could feel the tendrils of smoke and flame twist up her wrists and along her arms before turning and folding, dancing in the air. 

Her eyes opened again when she felt everyone quieten and then chant with her. They were in groups of three, holding hands with their heads bowed, repeating the same words. Rey looked into the fire again, letting it grow, the embers hitting her cheeks and melting against them like snow. 

She finished the final line and stood back, closing the prayer with her hands upturned, them covered in soot.

Kisses were pressed to her hands, her cheeks, temples and forehead. Warm hands against her shoulders and huge smiles.

It was a reminder of why she came every All Hallows rather than moped at her parents’ grave, leaving sacraments and then staring into the void for the rest of the night. At least they hadn’t left her truly alone. 

‘Are you okay?’

Rey nodded, wiping at a stray tear – a happy tear – with the back of her hand and looked up at Ben. 

‘I guess I make a convincing witch,’ he said with a smile. 

‘With a little practice you might just become one,’ she murmured, wiping at the black dust on her hands and trying to look anywhere but at Ben. 

‘Rey?’

She hummed, taking several shallow breaths to ease the sting in her eyes. Even she was cold now and the thought made her chuckle as she turned to the fire again, her hands held out over it. 

‘I...I,’ he huffed and Rey looked at him then, and he was frowning, looking at her carefully. ‘I have to go.’ 

‘It’s not–there’s no more time?’ 

He swallowed. ‘I’ve never stayed beyond sunrise.’ 

‘What happens if you stayed? Until next time, the winter solstice or...or.’ 

‘I don’t know,’ he answered, meaning the words. 

Rey felt her chest ache and she fought the urge to berate herself, trying to resist being so emotional over someone she had known for less than 12 hours. Over a demon. She forced herself not to say the words, not to ask whether he’d see her when he came back. 

‘Stay,’ she pleaded, her voice low. ‘Just a little longer, please.’ 

His eyes moved between hers and he did not respond for far too long, Rey feeling the back of her neck heat. 

‘I can make you another coffee,’ she murmured.

He smiled though, regardless of Rey’s fears, and he nodded. ‘That would be nice.’ 

The two of them walked back to Rey’s scooter and silently put the helmets back on their heads. Rey stole glances at Ben, lost to this feeling of being utterly connected to someone, beyond any real logic. It felt like she was being pulled towards him, a strange tugging in her stomach and a fluttering in her heart, like she would regret letting him go too soon.

Ben clutched her waist as they went but this time it felt different. His grip was tighter and the silence between them was forced, neither wanting to compromise the other.

Rey unlocked the door to the bookshop, turning on the light above the coffee machine and the one leading up the stairs to her apartment, before removing her coat and resting it on a chair. Ben leaned against the till counter facing the coffee machine, as Rey set about preparing and grinding the coffee. She unconsciously smiled as she worked, feeling his eyes trained on her hands. 

‘I can teach you how to make it.’ 

‘Then I couldn’t watch you do it,’ he considered. 

She heated the milk and mixed the beverage into a tall glass, turning and placing it on the counter beside Ben. ‘If you have the ingredients, you could make it where you’re from.’

‘I don’t think it would be the same.’

Rey frowned and looked at the coffee. Several seconds passed before Ben lifted up the glass and drank steadily, Rey watching his adam’s apple bob as he swallowed. 

‘I don’t want to go,’ he said, placing the half finished drink down. ‘I feel bound to you, and I’ve been taught to follow my own judgement.’ 

She couldn’t help but chuckle, despite what he was saying. Her eyes were lost in his, even when his lips turned into a frown, most likely due to her reaction. 

‘Is this what it feels like to be seduced by an Incubus?’ She questioned, mirth dancing in her expression. ‘For a moment, I thought that perhaps this truly was all a ploy to steal my life force from me.’ 

His brow twitched and she smiled shaking her head as if to simply disturb the air around her. He seemed to cotton on that she was joking, but his expression remained neutral and he stared at Rey. 

‘Are demons always so intense?’

‘I wouldn’t say so particularly.’ 

Rey nodded, rubbing her lips together and leaning against the counter that housed the coffee machine, meaning there was less than a metre between them. ‘Is this something that happens?’ 

‘I don’t know,’ he responded, his brow furrowed. ‘I just…’

‘Feel something deep in your stomach,’ she finished for him, and then her eyes were on the small archway that led to her reading room. ‘Perhaps what this is, is in one of the books.’ She added, though when she looked back at Ben, he was close and then his hands were on her cheeks and his lips pressed firmly against hers. 

Rey felt dizzy kissing him. Confused. Knowing this was probably the last thing she should be doing, but revelling in the feeling of rightness that settled in her chest, her fingers curling in the front of his coat briefly, before she stepped back quickly, faintly tasting his saliva on her tongue, amused at the sweetness of it. 

‘Show me your reading room,’ he requested, no hint of what he had just done in his expression. 

‘Please and thank you are words that do exist here,’ she muttered, trying to shake the giddiness she suddenly felt from her as she moved around his large form and up the single step to the back of the store. 

Rey could hear him following, and she turned to see him remove his coat and hang it on the coat stand by the till. The turtleneck sweater he wore beneath it was an utter sin by the way it hugged the muscles of his torso and arms, even in the darkness of the singular light that was on. 

Pulling the key from around her neck, she put it in the lock and let Ben walk in first, the lamps lighting with flames automatically. His eyes scanned the shelves as quickly as Hux had, and she frowned briefly, wondering what her cousin would think about her being around a demon – kissing a demon, after what his father had done to his mother. 

‘This is the most incredible personal collection I have ever seen,’ he murmured. 

Rey smiled and closed the door behind her, following him as he walked around and his fingers parsed over the spines. 

‘So that’s confirmation that you have libraries wherever you are from.’ 

‘I work in a library,’ he answered automatically, before he froze and turned back to her. Rey could see that he was not meant to disclose that and she grinned, her head tilted to the side. 

‘A librarian demon. You’re teaching me so much.’

He shook his head. ‘Don’t do that.’ 

Rey smiled and took his hand, sitting him down in one of the arm chairs. ‘Don’t worry, you can tell me anything in this room. Nothing can break these wards and no one can listen in.’ 

Ben looked into his lap, frowning. 

‘Is that why you keep so many secrets? Someone is always listening?’ 

‘Sometimes,’ he murmured. 

Rey sighed and her eyes passed over a selection of books on divination. ‘I suppose being a demon is not all it’s cracked up to be, then.’ 

‘It’s just me.’ He met her gaze, and she moved to sit on the arm of the chair beside him, waiting for him to continue. ‘You must promise me not to repeat this.’ 

She nodded. ‘I promise.’ 

‘The demon world is not completely dissimilar to the human world. There are homes, responsibilities, families. We live long there, but that is simply due to magic being infused in our realm. When the veil is at its thinnest and we can pass through of our own volition, our power can slip through too. When it is not, it is like trying to hear someone on land while you are drowning. Muffled and confusing. All I know is that if I am here past sunrise, my power will weaken.’ 

‘If you are summoned–’ 

Ben shook his head. ‘Summoning is dangerous. It takes the summoner’s power, and if you do not have enough power, it takes your life force. For as long as a demon is on earth in that way, the more the summoner loses.’ 

‘How long was Hux here for?’ she asked, tightness growing in her throat.

‘Your cousin’s birth father disappeared for eight years.’

Rey closed her eyes, sighing gently and wiping quickly at a tear that fell. ‘Why did he stay for so long? He stole her life.’ 

Ben shook his head, and she felt his fingers curl around her, his nails gently grazing the palm of her hand. ‘He had the opportunity to do much evil on this earth with the magic of a powerful witch.’ 

‘What happened when he returned?’ 

‘You do not want to know.

Rey shook her head, moving to the arm of the chair Ben sat in, looking down at him seriously. ‘I want to know.’

‘You cannot tell your cousin.’ 

‘I know I cannot,’ she responding, hoping that one day Armitage could know anyway. 

Ben frowned, but answered. ‘He was summoned, so he broke no laws. His actions against mortals lacked evidence and he had the power, physical and authoritative to make it disappear.’ 

‘How do you know?’ 

‘My family have tried to make demons accountable for crimes committed in the mortal world for millennia.’ 

She smiled, her hand tightening in his. ‘So you are more than a librarian. You are a scholar just like me, just of a more judicial sort.’ Rey looked down at their joined hands and sighed lightly. ‘Though that means you have important work to do.’ Her eyes looked to the clock, knowing that the inky black of night would steadily be turning to deep azure. 

Ben’s lip shifted, readying to say something but he did not.

‘Is there a place best to travel through?’ 

He nodded.

‘I’ll take you,’ she murmured. 

‘You don’t have to.’

‘I want to.’ 

Ben stood first and reached for the door, Rey following after him. They grabbed for their coats and Rey locked the door behind them. 

It was raining once more, heavier than earlier on and before Rey could lift her hood up over her head, Ben was pulling his hat over her hair. She turned from the door and he was faintly smiling, his hair growing limp in the rain causing his horns to stick out.

‘You’ll catch a cold,’ Rey murmured, though reconsidered. ‘Can you catch colds?’ 

Ben shrugged. ‘There’s a first time for everything.’ 

It was Ben who took her hand and his fingers curled through hers as he placed them both in his pocket, and led them down the street and towards Chandrila River. 

The water moved slowly at this point in its journey, gently churning with ancient power. They stood on the bank before the reeds and Ben let go of her, looking down at her carefully. 

‘Don’t be a stranger.' Rey murmured, her throat thick, the weight of saying goodbye to someone on All Hallows a bitter pill. 

‘I won’t,’ he answered. 

‘This won’t go away when you leave will it?’ Rey questioned, her hand in a fist against her chest. 

Ben frowned. ‘I don’t think it will.’ His expression was sombre and Rey’s chest tightened at the expression, her eyes stinging. 

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘For staying a little longer.’ 

‘I know deep within me that I could not deny you. Whatever you ask, I will do.’ 

‘Don’t say that,’ she sulked, wiping quickly at her face. Her eyes glanced to the burgeoning sunrise behind Ben and she steadied herself. ‘Would you kiss me again before you go?’ 

Ben nodded and they met once more, Rey’s tears and the rain that coated their cheeks making the kiss wet and her fingers too tight on Ben’s coat, almost ripping the thick material. His thumbs grazed her cheeks and then drifted to her throat and jaw, holding her gently as they kissed. 

He let go of her quickly and pressed kisses against her temples and forehead, before he was gone. As if walking through a gate that Rey couldn’t see, no matter how much power she could muster to improve her sight and senses. Her fingers were cold and she looked down at her red hands, reminded that Ben had her gloves as well as her heart.


	2. Chapter 2

The sun emerged as Rey began to make her way back through town and to the shop again. The rain had eased with bird call and when she opened the door, Beebee was sat on the counter, having let himself in. 

‘You smell strange,’ the familiar commented as Rey bypassed the stairs to her apartment and went straight to the reading room. 

‘I spent the evening with a demon,’ she answered, taking off her coat and dropping it on the floor. She curled up in the armchair Ben had sat in, pulling a blanket over herself. 

Beebee climbed to the arm and sniffed at the damp hat that covered her hair. ‘Seems unwise, especially without me. What kind of demon?’

‘I don’t know.’ 

‘Did he harm you?

‘I think so.’ 

The familiar prodded her shoulder and Rey turned away, covering her head. ‘Shall I fetch Maz?’ 

Rey shook her head and closed her eyes. ‘Let me just stay here for a bit. I’m tired  –  Kaydel asked me to lead the ritual.’

‘I wish I had been there,’ Beebee murmured, settling in and lying on the chair’s giant arm. ‘Your mother would have been so happy. I’ll be there next time.’

She nodded and rested her head closer to Beebee who did the same, and she felt a presence fall over her, comfortable and close, seemingly emanating from her chest and flowing down to her fingertips and toes.

When she drifted off to sleep, she saw hands the colour of night reaching for her, combing through her hair, touching her cheeks, nose, lips and Rey sighed, relishing in the feeling. Light kisses were pressed to her hands and she turned, being enveloped in a cocoon of warmth.

Light from the small window within the room was what woke her up, and she rubbed at her eyes, absently looking about her and feeling utterly alone. It had been a while since she’d felt like this, where the quiet of her own mind disturbed more than relaxed her. 

Beebee still snored lightly beside her and she reached for him, gently stroking his orange fur, trying her best not to disturb him but also trying to comfort herself. 

She stood, Ben’s hat falling from her head and into her hands. She clutched it closely, placing it in a small cupboard within the room before she headed into the bookshop, tired in more ways than one. 

The bookshop was wholly unchanged, much to Rey’s chagrin. She felt as if nothing would be the same again, that something of great importance had happened to her, and the idea that nothing else changing besides her own heart, plagued her relentlessly.

Rey had wanted Ben to stay and perhaps if she had asked, properly asked, he would have. Even if it was selfish of her to want that  –  to ask him to risk his life to stay in this realm, to ignore any possible responsibilities he had in his own. Yet she wanted to be selfish, especially standing in the centre of the bookshop, reminded that love had led her here, and she had now let love go. 

There was a knock on the door, and she glanced up, seeing her cousin through the window, a pair of round-lensed sunglasses balanced on the end of his nose, and an eager twist in his mouth. 

Once she unlocked the door, Hux sauntered in with a frown, and a pumpkin pie in hand. He looked more bedraggled than usual. The top button on his suit shirt loose, his shoes scuffed and a damp auburn leaf stuck to the bottom of one foot.

Rey kissed him on both cheeks before she went to make him a cup of earl grey. 

‘Who was that yesterday, Cousin?’ He asked, placing the pie on the till counter. 

His voice was low and stiff, so Rey put the earl grey tea bag back and grabbed for peppermint, adding a large dollop of honey to the cup. Her eyes caught on the jar for a while, savouring the colour, her mind drifting towards a demon it should not have drifted towards. 

‘A demon,’ she answered honestly. Rey wasn’t one for lying to Armitage.

He pulled at a chair, scraping it against the wood and sitting down. ‘How did you come across a demon?’ Rey brought the tea to him and he was pinching the bridge of his nose. 

She slid her own chair closer to her cousin and took his hand in hers. ‘I hope he did not upset you, I do not think that was his intention.’

Hux shook his head, allowing Rey to keep hold of him. ‘Now that I know that he wasn’t mocking me or being dishonest, it’s more relief than anything.’ He reached for his cup, turning it and gripping the handle. A short spell and a soft blow cooled the beverage down enough to drink and he sipped at it steadily. ‘I’m also assuming my father really is dead, considering I was told he  _ was _ a terrible demon.’ 

Rey nodded.

‘If you see him again, tell me. I’d like to know more all the same. Did he tell you anything else?’

She smiled wryly, sitting back and letting go of Hux’s hand. Her thumb rubbed circles on the flesh between her thumb and forefinger. ‘He said that demons are inherently loyal creatures. Perhaps that’s what he meant by your father truly being terrible, even by demonic standards.’

Hux was quiet for a moment, sipping at his tea and looking over his sunglasses at Rey. She stared at the wood grain of the table, the nail of her forefinger scratching at it absently until she met his eyes again. Hux reminded Rey of her mother then, intuitive to a degree that was almost magical.

‘Tell me what's on your mind.’ He took up her hand, easing the strain in the appendage before clasping it tightly in his. 

Rey felt the tears threaten as she looked at her cousin, her fears bubbling to the surface and choking her. She forced them back down, however, and shook her head, smiling weakly at Hux. ‘Just thinking about fate and chance,’ she murmured. 

‘Quite heavy topics I think,’ he responded with a smile. Considering how little he did smile, honestly and with feeling, it felt like a boon to Rey. ‘Once you feel up to bleeding your soul to me, let me know.’ 

Rey paused but nodded, sucking in a breath. 

Hux spent a moment looking her over carefully, his hand reaching to smooth the lines in her forehead before pressing a kiss to each temple. ‘See you at the coven meeting.’ 

Rey nodded and Hux finished the rest of his tea, darting off and shutting the door behind him. 

She turned to the counter, sighing lightly and rubbing her face. Taking up the pumpkin pie her cousin had left, she set to cutting it into equal pieces and displaying it in the small clear cabinet that sat on the edge of the till counter. 

Rey was still in her clothes from the day before, and she knew she likely looked a mess from sleeping so poorly. Her chest felt empty and she blamed it on lack of food, so she distractedly chewed on a muffin, her eyes on the wide front windows.

There were a few people milling about, and as her eyes watched them pass, her thoughts rested solely on Ben. How he had left, and whether he would come back again. Rey knew it would do no good to fixate on him, but it all felt so unfinished; that their paths had diverged and yet no other paths away had opened. They were both at a crossroads, staring each other down with nowhere else to go, not even backwards. Rey felt lost to him and her own heart, and even if it hurt, she wanted this feeling to remain. 

After clearing up her crumbs, Rey set about having a quick shower, washing her hair and tying it back into a low bun at the back of her head, retrieving and pulling Ben’s beanie over it. After giving the shop a quick once over and bringing a float to the till, Rey opened the door and set about giving the windows a quick clean. 

Rey’s eyes fell on her scooter, however, and she approached it, straightening it up a little more and swiping away the fallen leaves that had gathered on it. She opened the seat and removed the tarp, her fingers falling on the helmet Ben had worn.

She sighed, her breath crystallizing in the cold autumn air as she sifted through the contents, turning the helmet over. She pulled it out and a small note fluttered to the ground hitting the pavement. It almost blew away before Rey called it back to her and read it with confusion. 

_ Rey.  _

Her brow furrowed and she turned around as if the perpetrator were close by. As if Ben were close by. There was nothing, though, just an almost empty street at nine in the morning. Rey folded the note carefully before covering the scooter, digging in her bag for her keys, and heading back into the shop. 

Beebee greeted her, and Rey found herself in her reading room once more, sifting through tomes about communication spells. Her roaming finger paused on a spell, and she unfolded the piece of paper she had slipped into her pocket and looked it over. It bore similar marks to what the spell detailed  – a slight smell of cardamom and the impression of a thumbprint on the edge. 

She rested her head on the page, feeling something akin to relief. Grabbing for some paper from her desk drawer, and knowing that Ben was unlikely to receive it, she wrote a short note.

_ Ben. _

Rey looked over the spell once more, and pulled a letter opener from the desk, pressing it into the pad of her thumb until a droplet of blood showed and she held it to the edge of the note, reciting the spell, thinking of Ben, thinking of her lost gloves with his own note crumpled in her other closed palm. It burned where she had broken her skin and Rey felt a tremor up her arm, yelping when the paper disappeared from her grasp, the smell of burning blood apparent.

Beebee’s scratching came at the door and she stood, opening it as he sauntered in, his body gliding past her legs.

‘Smells like you are up to something.’

Before Rey could reply, he had climbed the desk and was looking over the spell and the note that Ben had sent. 

‘A blood trade spell?’ He hissed. ‘You said you wouldn’t do anything dangerous.’ 

She sighed, sitting in the armchair. ‘A pinprick of blood is barely dangerous, Beebee. It’s only a messaging spell.’

‘That requires blood.’

Rey closed her eyes, ignoring her familiar. 

‘Just think about what you are doing,’ he murmured. ‘You don’t know what’s there, Rey. Who could intercept your note, what else they might want from you. Mortals are easily manipulated, so do not think yourself resistant to temptation.’ 

‘I know that, I am not a fool.’ 

‘I’m sure every witch who has summoned a demon has said the same.’

‘I am not summoning a demon.’ Rey swallowed, looking at her hands. ‘Is it really so wrong?’ 

‘That is where the problem lies.’ Beebee moved to the door then, glancing back briefly. ‘The soft hearts of mortals will always be their downfall.’ 

Rey was silent, feeling a simmering of rage beneath her skin. Her thoughts were too loud and the shop was too quiet, and she folded her legs up underneath her, staring at the portrait that hung beneath two shelves: Her parents sat together smiling, Rey a small bundle in her mother’s arms. She felt the sting of tears again and she held it in as best as she could. 

She knew she should call Armitage, yet couldn’t, and her eyes strayed to the spellbook at her desk, wondering why it was so hard to be alone, and hating that it was that thought that had the tears actually falling. 

**XxX**

The woods were silent except for the rustle of wind through leaves, and the steady pace of her breath as she ran. 

The presence behind her kept creeping, reaching for her and Rey felt the scratches of its nails on her back, almost but not yet catching her. And it didn’t seem like it was her running keeping it at bay, but that it was toying with her. 

Tears fell quickly, blindingly so, but she ran still, stumbling over the terrain and searching for a destination she didn’t know. 

Rey woke to wailing that belonged solely to her and she sighed, sobbing lightly as she lay soaked in her sweat in her bed. Reaching haphazardly for the water she placed on her bedside before bed, she drank it back quickly and sat up. 

A pain stretched across her shoulders and she frowned as she rested her forehead on her knees and breathed deeply. 

Beebee was nowhere in sight and she cried steadily, pulling herself up and walking to the kitchen to make a mug of chamomile, pulling her quilt with her.

Nightmares were uncommon enough for Rey to ignore it, but it still left her reeling for too long. Her shoulders ached and she pulled the covers further over them, trying to retain her warmth.

One glance at the clock said it was 3AM, and she sighed. Waiting at the kettle felt like an eternity, and Rey sat at her small kitchen table as she waited for the beverage to cool. Its warmth in her hands helped. She looked at the thumb she had pricked several weeks before, the skin smooth there now.

‘No response Ben?’ she murmured, bringing the mug to her lips. 

She felt a warmth in her shoulder and an easing as she drank, closing her eyes to savour it. 

Rey reached for a bill that sat in the centre of the table and tore an edge off, before picking up a pen and scrawling tiredly. 

_ I should have told you to stay. _

The sting of the spell wasn’t as bad this time, and Rey put her thumb in her mouth, sucking on it lightly before downing the rest of her tea. She managed to drag herself back to her room, and sleep another fitful few hours before she needed to open the shop. 

While she still felt terrible, there seemed to be a weight lifted and she relaxed into her work, making herself an americano to take the edge off. 

Beebee didn’t come back all day, so Rey quietly managed the store on her own, helping customers and refilling the cups of the few witches who had taken to working in the reading room, thankful for the wealth of information. 

Rey watched people pass the windows as she stirred her latte. It was getting colder and the trees were doing their best to hang onto their leaves. Christmas tunes gently rang through the shop and several customers had already asked for a dash of cinnamon in their drinks that morning. 

Rey rolled her wrist, feeling it tighten and strain and she moved upstairs, making a quick dinner of pasta and watching the stairs, waiting for Beebee to come. Her phone rang then, Hux on the other end. 

‘I think Beebee ran off with Millicent.’ He began.

‘Why do you think that?’

‘She has disappeared.’

Rey chuckled, stirring her pasta into her sauce. ‘Well they do have lives of their own, I imagine.’ 

‘You’re not worried?’

‘I’m sure they are fine.’ 

Hux paused, waiting and Rey stopped stirring.

‘You don’t sound right, and don’t make excuses.’

Rey huffed, grabbing for a bowl. ‘My mind is too quiet some days, and then as loud as a car crash on others. I wish there was a spell for it.’

‘Do you want me to come over?’

She shook her head, holding the phone instead of balancing it against her cheek. 

‘Not if you’re busy.’ 

‘Don’t worry about that.’ 

Hux pressed a kiss against Rey’s head when he walked through the door, hugging her tightly against him. They both sat at her kitchen table, Rey with a mug of tea and Hux sifting through new spell-cards, smiling amusedly at the more ridiculous and unnecessary incantations. 

‘Maybe you should have kept that demon around,’ he murmured. ‘He seemed to make you smile.’ 

Rey snorted. ‘I’m sure that’s how it works.’ 

Hux shrugged. ‘Well I’m still here, nobody has dragged me to the netherworld.’ 

‘I’m sure if you want that to happen, it wouldn’t be too difficult to arrange.’

He chuckled and placed the cards down. His eyes furrowed then and he lifted her hand, turning it over in his. There wasn’t a visible blemish on her thumb, but Hux seemed to sense it, and then his hand travelled up to her shoulder, and he squeezed it gently, Rey shifting painfully from his touch. He then took her hand in his. 

‘Don’t do anymore magic with your blood.’

Rey narrowed her eyes. 

‘You’re looking at me like Beebee has told you the same thing. It’s a short climb to the kind of magic my mother did, Rey, and you know I won’t let you fall down that path.’

She looked away from him, but he continued, relentless.

‘You said it yourself. Witches do misguided things for love just as much as they do them for power. I don’t want to see you hurt, and I won’t lose you, even if that means me doing something you will not want me to do.’ 

‘Don’t threaten me, Armitage.’ 

He huffed. ‘This is not a threat, Rey. This is me telling you that I love you and I will do whatever necessary to protect you.’ He took a breath and frowned. ‘Forget this demon, it is in your best interest to do so.’ 

‘You say that as if it is easy.’ 

‘It is not easy, which is why you should do it.' He paused, looking at her pointedly. 'If you have the means to send him a message, I’m sure he does too, so where is his response?’ 

Rey looked to the table and Hux’s hand tightened on hers. ‘It has only been a few weeks,’ she murmured. 

‘Look forward, Rey. You are 25, you have your whole life ahead of you, and even if you can’t take the word of a half-demon, it will be beautiful.’ He paused, forcing himself to smile. ‘I saw it in a crystal.’ 

‘You’re an idiot,’ she muttered. Rey nodded, however, and took her hand back, wrapping it around her mug again. 

‘Just visit the centre outside of coven meetings, okay? And this is coming from someone who likes their own time quite a bit.’ 

‘Okay,’ she answered. 

Hux stood, tucking the spell-cards into the front pocket of his peacoat and he smiled, patting her head gently. ‘Be good, sweet cousin.’ 

‘Always.’

And Rey tried. She spent weeks ignoring the crumpled note with her name written on it, avoided over-analysing her nightmares and dreams which seemed to contain Ben without him ever being visible to her. The memory of his features stayed clear within her mind, even if everything else fell away. 

The weeks that followed were much the same. Rey couldn’t say that she hadn’t fixated slightly on the subject of demons, and she spent far too long in her reading room sifting through the ancient tomes for any and all mentions of them. She wasn’t quite sure what her intention was; whether she wanted to know more about demons themselves, the world they lived in or even the relationships they had between mortals and other creatures. It was all very vague. She then set to researching the link between their worlds. Whether a witch had managed to travel there, whether they had made it back. It was a negative on both accounts and she went to bed annoyed that she was so fixated on an impossibility. So fixated on a demon she had known for a few hours.

As the Winter Solstice drew closer she wondered if then the veil between their worlds might be a little thinner. Whether he’d be able to visit, or perhaps whether it would be another All Hallows she’d have to wait, and even then, what if he never showed? Rey knew she was ridiculous to think that he would, but then a part of her hoped.

It wasn’t easy to forget, and Rey couldn’t, even if she had decided after five months that it was the best course of action. It was ironic. The more she thought to be rid of Ben’s memory, the more it forged itself to her very being. She had been right that their connection would not disappear, and even when Hux, Maz, her friends, her entire coven did their best to distract her, the knowledge that a piece of her soul was missing  – that it was  intrinsically tied to a demon in another realm  –  did not become less of a reality. 

The temptation to write her thoughts down often overwhelmed her, but she resisted any more notes as Hux had requested, taking to concentrate on her work and on her research, trying to not let it revolve around Ben and how much she wanted to see him.

The Summer Solstice drew closer and Rey had made every possible attempt to distance herself from thinking of Ben too much. It had become easy to hide her own feelings, which aided her when it came to her cousin specifically, but deciding to write her thoughts and words to him down on paper helped. Even if she didn’t send him her words, it was easier this way, where she could compartmentalise her yearning and function normally. 

**XxX**

The note from Ben sat tucked in the corner of her mirror on her nightstand, a constant reminder as Rey brushed her hair and tied half of it into a bun, and pulled Ben’s beanie over her head. She’d overworn it and the cotton frayed at the edges, but she wore it all the same. 

Rey was meticulous as she put up the Halloween decorations. This year she decorated the book tables with hanging bats and spiderwebs. Desserts were supernaturally inspired, and Hux brought her a pumpkin pie every Monday during October. It was easier to remind herself when she looked at the Starbucks signs for ‘Pumpkin Spice Lattes’ that even if Ben didn’t come, even if he never came again, that this feeling wouldn’t be forever.

‘You look cheery,’ Rose murmured as she came through the front door. There were more decorations in the box in her arms and Rey grinned as she pulled out a witch’s hat, removing Ben’s beanie and placing the hat on her head. 

‘How do I look?’ 

‘Like the real deal,’ Rose answered with a grin. 

‘Now where shall we put these?’ Rose questioned aloud, removing several fake skeletons. 

Rey looked around and then pointed to the archway. ‘Over here. Let me take them. I thought you said Finn was coming to bring them over, anyway.’ Rey admonished, swatting Rose’s hands away as her friend laughed. 

‘Something something about preparing the nursery. I don’t think he even remembers what day of the week it is, you’d think he was the pregnant one.’ 

Rey grinned and pulled out a stool, readying to arrange the skeletons with a touch of magic. ‘I’m sure he’s just overly worried.’

Rose nodded, her hand falling to her stomach and resting on it casually. ‘I suppose he’s not used to seeing me like this. It’s kind of strange handing all of the responsibilities over to him.’ 

‘It won’t be for much longer, I imagine,’ Rey chuckled. She hopped down, the skeletons affixed and went shuffling through the cupboard beneath the till. ‘Now this is a tonic for you and one for Finn.’ She removed the two stopped bottles and handed them to Rose. ‘One sip before dinner. Yours is for the baby, his is to calm his nerves.’

Rose took them both, laughing. ‘You shouldn’t humour him so much, Rey.’ 

The young witch waved her friend away, lightly nudging her towards the door. ‘You’re more than welcome to do the same if I ever have a baby.’

‘I heard from Maz that the Soul Diviner is in town,’ Rose said, waggling her eyebrows as she stopped at the door. ‘Just in time for All Hallows. You could be married by the Winter Solstice.’ 

Rey pretended to laugh. ‘And I’ll make sure to have the wedding on a full moon.’ 

Rose pouted. ‘That’s hardly fair.’ 

‘I’m not getting married any time soon, Rose. I am also not going to pay the Soul Diviner a visit.’ 

‘Ah.’ Rose stopped, backing a few feet onto the pavement. ‘Kaydel may have intervened on your behalf.’ 

Rey groaned, louder than she had intended, knocking her forehead on the doorframe. Even if Rey loved every single member of her coven, just like a real family, they weren’t against involving themselves in the businesses of others. Kaydel had spoken to Rey some time after New Years about her future and the ‘ties she wanted in this life’. It was a conversation she expected, considering Kaydel’s role as the Second in their coven, but one she had dreaded all the same. Everyone had seen her with Ben on All Hallows, and while no one besides Hux knew he was a demon, they knew that he had been Rey’s distraction for the last year, and had assumed it was an unrequited affection on her part. 

‘Oh well, that’s your coven business anyhow,’ Rose said, seemingly trying to escape Rey’s expression of annoyance. She waved and moved down the street, faster than a woman who was seven months pregnant should, but much slower than the gait of a female werewolf. 

Rey finished up decorating the bookshop just as customers began coming in for their hot beverages and a quick mosey around the new books section. The witches hat was still on her head when Hux came in with a breakfast bagel which he swiftly handed to Rey. 

‘Wolf again, Rey?’ he questioned, turning his nose up and waving at the air. 

‘Dior Eau Savage again?’ Rey returned, grinning. 

Hux narrowed his eyes and sidled past her towards the reading room. He gestured for her to follow, and Rey took a sweep of the shop, noting that the customers were fine and stopped in front of her cousin outside of the reading room door. 

‘The Soul Diviner—’

‘—Is in town, yes,’ Rey interrupted. ‘I have no plans on meeting them.’ 

‘Kaydel plans on bringing them here on Friday at 3am.’ 

Rey rolled her eyes, sighing audibly. ‘During the witching hour the day before All Hallows? Does the woman have some obsession with marrying me off?’ 

Hux barely contained his laughter. ‘Hey, she wants to do the same to me, just not many witches want to be connected to a half-demon.’ 

‘Would running away help?’ Rey asked, bringing her voice lower. 

‘I think if you don’t let the Soul Diviner read you, Kaydel will never shut up about it.’

Rey frowned. ‘I know I joked about it before, but won’t they mark me?’ 

‘Is that a bad thing?’ 

‘I don’t know,’ she admitted. ‘It’s magic. It’s not a thought experiment, or a tarot reading, or even a few glances at my star chart and matching it with another. The spell looks at your soul in order to seek out your other half.’ 

Hux looked at her steadily. ‘And you know where that lies.’ 

‘I…,’ Rey closed her mouth, studying her cousin. 

He nodded then, his smile weak and reluctant. Rey wasn’t quite sure what the expression meant, but he sighed, patting her head lightly. ‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, cousin, but it won’t be me.’ 

She rolled her eyes, pinching his arm roughly. He shrieked away from her and then they were both laughing in the back of the shop, Rey finding her worries had eased slightly. 

‘I don’t know what will happen, but I am here regardless. Do you understand me?’ He questioned, looking at her seriously. ‘You are the only family that matters to me, so I will always be on your side.’ 

Rey smiled, nodding and unlike usual, it was Hux who pulled her into his arms, hugging her fiercely.

**XxX**

It was Beebee who alerted Rey to the presence of the Soul Diviner. Before Kaydel had a chance to ring the doorbell that was connected to the upper floor, Rey was pulling on her dressing gown and Ben’s beanie before wiping sleep from her eyes. 

‘Morning Rey,’ Kaydel said chirpily. 

Rey had expected this. Even though both Rose and Hux had told her, Kaydel had also been kind enough to send her a missive that she was visiting several witches over the course of the week with the Soul Diviner. This was her one service, she had stated, as if she was doing them all a favour.  _ Let me link you inexplicably with another you may or may not know.  _ While yes, it was just notifying them of the possible path their lives could take, it was annoying all the same. 

‘Come in,’ she murmured, flicking on a light. ‘Would you like anything to drink?’ 

‘Jasmine tea, please,’ the Soul Diviner murmured, their voice much younger and cleaner than Rey had expected. They wore a veil of grey over a matching floor-length gown, which somehow did not collect dirt. 

‘Nothing for me.’ Kaydel said with a smile. 

Rey nodded and went about making tea for herself too. Once she had finished, she placed the mugs on the table that Kaydel and the Soul Diviner had taken seats at. Long fingers and clean short nails reached for the mug and pulled it toward themself. Rey drank easily, blowing cool air onto her beverage. 

‘I can tell you do not want me here,’ the Soul Diviner murmured behind their drink. 

Kaydel frowned. ‘How can you not want to know your destined?’ 

‘I imagine because she already knows,’ the ancient witch spoke. ‘Though there are always other reasons.’ 

Rey frowned. ‘I do not need to be analysed,’ she murmured. ‘I do not need to be reminded of the impossibility of my circumstances.’ 

‘What’s impossible?’ the Soul Diviner questioned rhetorically. Their hand stretched across the table, facing upward. ‘See your fate.’ 

Kaydel looked to Rey who frowned down at the hand. There were few things Rey was truly frightened of, but this was one of them. This would confirm everything and only highlight that she wouldn’t be able to have what she wanted.

Rey was reluctant as she released her hand from around her mug and placed it in the Soul Diviner’s. There were several seconds of nothing, before the hand tightened around her own and Rey felt a tingle on the inside of her wrist. A small symbol appeared, and when the witch let go, Rey looked over it with a raised brow. 

‘It seems you were correct.’ Strangely, Rey could hear the smile in the witch’s voice. ‘All will be well.’ 

Kaydel was smiling, her hands joined together. ‘You keep far too many secrets, Rey.’ She chuckled, kissing the woman’s cheeks quickly. ‘I will see you tomorrow, and do remember to bring whoever this may be.’ 

Rey was silent, quite lost in how to respond as the pair of them left the shop, the town still drenched in darkness. Only twenty minutes had passed since they had first arrived. 

She went back to sleep then, trying to ignore the steady beating of her heart, or the way the small mark on her wrist continued to throb like it had a heartbeat of its own. Beebee was snoring softly as if nothing had even happened. 

**XxX**

Rey woke to knocking and she groaned, slipping from her bed and knocking Beebee awake. She rubbed her eyes, looking down at her watch and seeing that she’d been asleep for another four hours, the sun already having risen. Rey could imagine a cruel member of her coven wanting to wake her for morning rites on All Hallows, and she trudged down the stairs, prepared to strangle them. Beebee, annoyed at having been woken up so many times in the night, left to find his own corner of the apartment to sleep in. 

Blindly Rey stumbled towards the door, and tried to see out of the shop windows through the darkness and mistiness of sleep, but could barely see more than an outline. She eventually rubbed her eyes enough to see out of them and moved toward the door, freezing as her eyes met with Ben’s through the glass. His mouth was in a flat line, his hands in fists beside him.

Pulling the keys from the counter, she reached for the locks, her hands shaking as she turned the three locks. He was inside before she had removed the key and Rey looked up at him, her mouth shaping the words before she could even speak. He was soaked through, his lips purple and his hair stuck to his forehead as he shivered. Rain fell outside steadily, bringing the scent of petrichor wafting in.

‘Leaving was a mistake.’ 

‘I thought—' She cut herself off, looking about him and frowning. ‘Have you waited a year just to say that?’ Rey frowned.

‘I thought it would be the most important thing to say.’ Rey stared up at him, and he turned, shutting the door and shutting out the cold air, locking it behind him with a lift of his wrist. ‘I also wanted to see you in the daylight.’ 

Her lips turned into a smile and then she was laughing quietly. ‘Is that really the only reason?’ She queried. 

‘This is not a seduction,’ he murmured, seeming to read her mind. ‘I know you’ve been hellbent on making me an Incubus.’

Rey laughed louder then, allowing herself to fall into Ben’s sphere, her arms tying tightly around his chest as she squeezed. He paused, his arms not knowing exactly what to do before she rested her head against his sternum and brought his own arms around her swiftly, hugging him again. Rey felt the cold water soak through her t-shirt and she pulled back, gesturing for him to remove his coat.

‘For a demon you have such pretty words.’ She said sarcastically. 

‘For a witch you are surprisingly easy to amuse.’ His coat was in her hands then. 

She looked up at him smiling. ‘Yes I am.’ 

He paused, removing his hat from her head and looking it over, fingers catching the frayed pieces of material. He met her eyes again and his fingers carefully combing through the loose tendrils of her hair, ridding Rey of her bun as his nails scraped softly against her scalp, stealing a sigh from her. 

‘You would be an earthwalker?’ She asked with a breath. 

‘I will be whatever allows me to remain here.’ 

Rey chuckled. ‘Come with me.’ 

She pulled on his arm and he followed her as she hung up his coat on the rack and started the short climb to the upper floor. 

It was much warmer and Ben’s shivers seem to become briefer as he stood beside the small fire that Rey kept lit. 

‘Take off your clothes, I’ll get them dry for you.’ 

He complied, pulling his turtleneck off and then his trousers before handing them to Rey. She moved to the kitchen to hang them up on her laundry rack and when she turned back, Ben was looming over her in the small space in a t-shirt and loose boxers, his Docs tucked away in a corner.

‘Let me make you some tea,’ she murmured, trying to avoid him seeing the rouge in her cheeks. 

She flicked on the kettle and then quickly went in and out of her bathroom and bedroom, carrying a small towel and a blanket. 

Ben was looking through her cupboards and had pulled out two mugs, though she pulled his arm to sit him down and wrapped the blanket around his shoulders. 

‘How long were you out there?’ she questioned.

‘An hour.’

Rey sat on the edge of her kitchen table between his legs as she gently set about drying Ben’s hair with the towel and the assistance of a warming spell. 

She smiled as he looked up at her and merely chuckled when his hands went to rest on her waist, his expression one of reverence beyond what Rey thought was necessary. 

‘I really hope you don’t catch a cold,’ she murmured.

‘Anything goes now. I know my powers will eventually wane.’

Rey sighed gently, pushing his hair behind his ear. ‘You can take some of mine.’

‘Don’t say that,’ his voice was firm, even if his eyes were lost in hers.

‘It is the same for me. I can’t find myself wanting to deny you,’ she answered honestly. ‘I want to share it with you.’ 

Ben shook his head, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against Rey’s sternum and counting the beats of her heart. ‘Never that. Your power is tied to your soul, unlike mine.’

‘You took mine in a single night.’ 

He looked to her and she had her eyes closed, forcing the words out. The kettle pinged and she moved out of his grip, and with shaking hands, poured hot water into the two cups of nettle tea. She placed the cup in front of Ben and then sat across from him with her own. His hand reached for hers and he turned it over in his, looking at the small marking on her wrist. He frowned and looked at his own, finding the same mark there.

‘You marked me?’ 

Rey nodded. ‘I suppose I did. Is this normal? Is this how it’s meant to be?’ she queried, thumb nail scratching the paint on the ceramic.

‘I don’t know,’ he murmured. ‘Your words frighten me.’ 

‘You frighten me,’ she admitted. 

They were both silent for a moment and Ben sipped at his drink, not knowing whether to look at Rey or not. 

‘I don’t want to leave. I want to stay here with you.’

‘I want you to stay.’ 

‘Then we are decided,’ he answered, swallowing the rest of his tea. 

Rey looked at him, somewhat surprised as he stood. 

‘Sleep some more,’ he requested, a hand held out to her, helping her up and walking her back to her bedroom. 

‘I’ve slept enough,’ she complained. 

He pulled back the covers on her bed regardless and Rey chuckled, slipping into its warmth. Ben moved to the curtains, closing the blinds beneath them to shut away the daylight and she watched him as he milled about. 

‘Ben, stop fussing so much.’

‘I want to take care of you.’ 

She beamed at that and reached for him. ‘Then take off the rest of your wet clothes and we can both sleep. There’s a lot we need to talk about, but we can wait until later.’ 

He paused, looking at her and then curtly nodded, removing his partially wet shirt as well as his socks and moving into the bed beside Rey. His hands slid around her, gripping her tightly against his chest and despite how cold he was, she smiled, finding herself falling asleep in his arms, his lips pressing light kisses to her shoulder. 

**XxX**

Rey rolled over, feeling out the empty cold spot where Ben had been and sitting up sharply, alarmed. Her clock read 1pm and she screeched, jumping from under the covers and throwing clothes on haphazardly. 

When she had made it downstairs, Ben was serving a customer a cappuccino, wearing the same clothes he’d been wearing before, his hat on his head and an apron around his waist.

Beebee was seemingly overseeing the whole thing, as he sat on the counter staring quite seriously at Ben. 

Ben noticed Rey’s presence and he moved over to her, the pair of them the same height as she stood several steps up, eyes roving over the store. ‘You didn’t wake me.’ 

He shook his head. ‘I wanted to do this for you.’ 

‘The coffee?’ 

‘Beebee showed me the instruction manual,’ he grinned, removing it from the small pocket in the apron and waving it at her.

Rey chuckled and watched as Ben took two steps to get closer to her, before taking her face in his hands and kissing her. It was not quick considering the customers dotted around the store, and Rey smiled against his lips. 

‘Did he treat you quite badly?’ 

Ben shrugged. ‘Not enough to kill me,’ he answered.

Rey groaned. ‘Beebee, come here.’

The familiar trundled over without a care in the world.

‘I hope you gave Ben a warm welcome.’

‘What happened to it just being the two of us?’ 

Rey chuckled. ‘Well I changed my mind, how is that?’

He huffed and walked away, jogging towards one of their customers and sitting in the chair beside them. 

Rey rubbed at her eyes and Ben removed her hands, his thumbs sweeping over her eyelids. She felt the magic in his touch and smiled when her lids felt lighter and feeling as if she’d had a sudden burst of energy. ‘Your magic?’

‘Still here.’ 

‘I’m glad, it means I don’t have to feel completely terrible.’ 

Ben shook his head. ‘Never feel terrible,’ he responded, kissing her once more. ‘We’ve waited so long to see eachother again, so I want to cherish you.’ 

Rey chuckled, feeling tears again as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, squeezing him tightly. When he eventually let go, Rey hopped back upstairs to have a quick shower and she changed into jeans and a jumper, putting Ben’s beanie back on her head. 

He was seemlessly using the till when Rey got back downstairs, and he smirked at the hat on her head, before continuing to work. They shut up early and cleared up quietly, Rey thinking non-stop about what she would say to Hux, let alone the coven. 

‘How have you managed to pick up everything so fast?’ Rey asked once she’d finished sweeping and Ben was chewing on the last slice of pumpkin pie.

‘Instruction manual,’ he answered, pulling the one for the till from his apron. 

Rey snorted and looked up as Ben approached her, standing in front of her, so close her neck had to strain to meet his gaze.

‘I’m sorry you had to wait so long for me,’ he murmured.

She shook her head, arms reaching for his neck. He squeezed her gently, his lips pressed to her neck, her feet almost breaching the floor. 

‘Will you come to the festivities with me?’ Rey asked. 

Ben put her down, smiling and nodding. He pressed their lips together again and Rey giggled, sighing into his touch, trying not to melt completely as he held her closely. 

‘I could get really used to this,’ she murmured.

‘Well you’ve got me full-time, unless you have somewhere else for me to stay.’ 

Rey snorted and broke from Ben. ‘Let’s get you some new clothes. We can miss the opening words.’

The pair of them pulled on their coats, and Rey chuckled, noting that Ben still had her gloves. She found an extra scarf for him, and they headed out, hopping onto the scooter and driving further into town. 

Rey let Ben have free-reign in Target, amused that he seemed to have a fixation on everything being black. Then she bought him a toothbrush, and other toiletries that he happily picked out. Ben seemed to feign knowledge about every item he picked up, but Rey said nothing, she just nodded along.

When they paid, Ben changed into a much warmer knitted jumper and they headed off to Maz’s barn as the sun began sinking in the sky. 

Ben’s grip was tight and sure as they drove and Rey relaxed easily into his arms. She hopped off the scooter first when they arrived, waiting for Ben to get up before she put down the foot-stand and put their helmets on the handlebars, the seat box filled with their bags. 

‘What am I supposed to be tonight?’ Ben asked with a murmur.

She looked up at him, raising a brow, tightening her scarf and moving closer to him. ‘What do you mean?’ 

‘Am I a demon or a man?’ He asked, repeating the question he’d asked exactly a year before. 

Rey smiled lightly, her hand reaching to touch his face gently and then she folded their fingers together. ‘Why don’t you just be yourself? I’m not going anywhere, anyway.’

‘What if I frighten people? What if they look at you differently?’ 

She shrugged. ‘I’m sure they’ll get over it eventually, and if they don’t, well that’s their loss, isn’t it?’ Rey paused and grinned. ‘You don’t frighten me anyway,’ she commented. 

‘That has never made any sense.’

Rey lifted her other hand to his cheek and brought him down to her, kissing him briefly and smiling against his lips. ‘Your lips are going blue again,’ she chuckled, pressing their lips together again just for the sake of warming Ben up. 

‘It’s not as bad as it looks, though you can keep kissing me.’

She faked a laugh and then pulled him towards the barn. ‘Let’s get you inside for something warm.’ 

‘I will be myself,’ he whispered to her. 

Rey nodded, though stopped abruptly when Hux halted their progress halfway between the bonfire and the barn doors. His eyes were on Ben and he seemed to be speechless for several moments, then he glanced at Rey with confusion.

‘He is sober this year?’ Ben asked. 

‘It seems so,’ Rey whispered in response. 

Hux frowned, clearly not enjoying being talked about. ‘You returned,’ he started. ‘You are not doing my cousin any favours by making this a once a year instance.’ 

‘I’m staying.’ 

His eyes narrowed on Rey then. ‘How? What did you do?’ 

‘I didn’t do anything.’ 

Her cousin chewed on his lip, worried. ‘Did you see the Soul Diviner?’ 

‘The Soul Diviner?’ Ben echoed, seeming to realise something. 

Hux nodded and Rey let go of Ben, and pulled down the sleeve of her coat, showing the mark to her cousin. 

‘They bound you?’ His voice was raised, and he seemed to catch himself, going quiet once more. He glanced at Ben then. ‘I suppose it’s not an issue, then.’

‘Why didn’t they tell me that’s what they did?’ Rey asked with a frown. 

‘The Soul Diviner isn’t exactly the most forthcoming of witches. Quite cryptic and gives good news in a handful of words.’

‘ _ All will be well. _ ’ Rey said aloud. 

Hux smiled then, patting his cousin’s head and pressing a kiss to each cheek. 

‘Did the Soul Diviner not see you?’ 

‘Now that’s a story for another day. You two are a far more interesting topic.’ He turned and moved to the doors, putting his hands by his mouth to increase the volume of his voice. ‘Kaydel dear, Rey is here.’ The rhyme was purposeful and he put as much sing-song into his voice as possible.

They all moved into the barn, Rey pouring drinks for herself and Ben as Kaydel came skipping over from the back, a wide grin on her face. 

‘Welcome,’ she announced. ‘I do remember your face,’ she said to Ben while Rey placed a glass of whiskey in his gloved hand. 

‘This is Ben,’ Rey said easily, taking a sip of her beverage. ‘Ben this is Kaydel, the Second.’

Ben nodded his head, unsure of how to greet the witch. Kaydel beamed as she looked between the two of them. ‘So where are you from Ben?’ 

He looked down at Rey expectantly and she shrugged her shoulders. ‘The demon realm,’ he answered. 

Kaydel scratched her head and then looked to Hux, who shrugged with a nod. 

‘You are a demon?’ 

Ben nodded. 

She was quiet for a moment, and then tilted her head. ‘I suppose there’s a first for everything. I did expect Rey’s match to be a witch, though this is an interesting turn of events.’ Rey smiled, and Kaydel nodded continuing. ‘Do mill around. It would be nice for you to lead us again tonight, Rey.’

‘Really?’

‘Maz’s orders.’

Hux was already flitting away with a glass of red wine in his hand and Kaydel continued on to greet others, while Rey turned to look up at Ben. He smiled and pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose, which Rey laughed at. 

‘Do you want to meet everyone?’ 

‘Considering I’m starting my new life as a witch imminently, it would probably be a good idea.’

Rey grinned and the pair of them began making rounds around the room, most of the coven left speechless by the revelation, but none yet calling for their removal from the premises. Ben’s hand was tight in Rey’s and they seemed to feed off each other, dousing their nerves in the other’s confidence. 

They both took seats on a low bench not far from the bonfire, Rey summoning a blanket from inside to wrap around them as they prepared for the fireworks. Their fingers were tightly wound together, Rey satisfied that she could feel Ben’s steady pulse against her own wrist.

‘Thank you.’

Ben caught the catching of her breath as she said it and he held her more closely as she leaned against his shoulder. Distracted away from the fireworks that began overhead once more, his eyes were on Rey alone as hers laid resolutely closed, concentrating on their hands folded together, and the speedy heartbeat they shared. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed!!!! I might write a smutty epilogue if I feel like it lol. But nevertheless ta-ta for now!!! :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't help writing another update. I AM SO WEAK. With a dashing of smut and fluff. 
> 
> Also the wonderful Akashne (who owns this prompt) commissioned this lovely artwork from Dark London Art for this fic: https://twitter.com/DarkLondonArt/status/1195723319930236928?s=20

The fireworks started and they watched them together this time, their hands squeezing together tight enough to bruise. Using the excuse that Ben was cold, Rey continuously took the opportunity to kiss the back of his hand, blowing warm air over his appendages. 

The ritual went smoothly and the pair slipped off a few hours before sunrise, only separating long enough to put helmets on, then take them off. Even as Rey had opened and closed the front door to the shop, Ben was wrapped tightly around her, chin against her shoulder. 

‘You never have to leave, do you?’ Rey questioned.

Ben shook his head, fingers combing through her hair, his hat discarded on the floor as she sat comfortably in his lap on her upstairs living room sofa. ‘I made sure to sort my affairs before I got here,’ he answered. ‘There’s also no reason why I can’t continue my family’s work from here too. I’ll just have to figure out a way to send updates more efficiently.’ 

‘I can help you do that.’ Rey grinned, kissing him, revelling in the soft scratch of his nails across her scalp. Her thumbs massaged the rough skin of his jaw as they both fell into the kiss, Rey humming softly as Ben’s hand fell to grip her thigh. He breathed heavily when they separated, his lips wet and eyes wide. 

‘You’re not sharing your power with me,’ he murmured.

Rey pouted, nuzzling against his throat, sighing at the remnants of aftershave he’d put on while they were shopping, laced with the smoky scent that clung to him. ‘I’ll do what I want if I need to.’ Her breath against his neck made Ben shiver lightly, and she chuckled as his skin turned red. She sat back up, removing his hat and grinning as the tips of his ears went red. Her fingers absently combed through the hair just behind his ears as she met his eyes again. ‘I find myself wanting to do a lot of things for you that you would say I shouldn’t.’ 

‘You don’t have a good track record of listening to me,’ he answered, voice low. 

She smiled, shaking her head. ‘No, I do not.’

Ben sighed gently, closing his eyes and pulling Rey closer to him, as she sat across his lap. 

'Are you tired? Do you want to sleep?' She asked, leaning back and looking into Ben's face. 

'Just trying to take in the fact that you're right here with me.'

She chuckled. 'It must have felt like very little time.’ 

'Do you really think I'm immortal?'

Rey nodded, fingers grazing along his horns, following its natural ridges. 

‘The common misconception is that we live forever. Not forever, just a long time.’ He murmured. 'And it felt like an eternity.'

She smiled and they were kissing again, Rey sighing audibly against his lips and shifting her position until she was straddling his lap and her arms were around his neck. Ben's hands were on her ass then, nails scratching at the taut material of her jeans. 

He shuddered when they parted and Rey looked at him carefully, before moving to press kisses against his throat, sucking gently on his cool skin. Ben groaned and Rey could just feel him through his trousers and her jeans. 

'Is this okay?' She questioned. 'We haven't talked about—'

'—The logistics?' 

Rey chuckled against his adam’s apple, lips not disconnecting from his skin. 'Yes, the logistics.'

'I am...not dissimilar from any other human male, more so than your favoured incubi.’'

'You know for someone who isn't one, you seem to bring them up a lot.' 

He groaned. 'I walked right into that one, didn't I?'

Rey nodded and pulled away, grinning wide. 'You’re all I need anyway,' she said, nipping at his throat again. 

'The words of a predator before she traps her prey after having lulled them into defencelessness,' he said casually. 

'Hmm, maybe so.' Rey had scooted back a little in his lap and her hands went to the button and fly on his trousers. Ben sighed in relief when his erection was allowed a little more freedom and Rey's eyes met his. 

'You look like you have something planned,' he said with narrowed eyes.

Rey tilted her head, considering. 'Maybe, if you let me.' 

'I can't say no to you.'

She chuckled, her forehead falling onto his shoulder. 'You can't say that. I'm sure there will be instances where you should absolutely tell me no.' 

'Only if you tell me to.' He answered seriously. 

Rey sighed, trying her best not to laugh. 'So if I asked you to marry me on the Winter Solstice?' He hesitated and she poked him with a self-indulgent nod. 'I knew you weren't being serious.'

'Could I marry you on the Winter Solstice?' He questioned. 'Would that be allowed?' 

Rey was quiet for a moment, not expecting the response. 'You would marry me?' She murmured, looking rather lost.

'Are we not practically married already?' He asked, gesturing to the mark on their wrists. 

'The mark means we are linked, but it can be severed at will.' 

Ben’s brows fell. 'Would you want that?'

'Of course not,' she responded abruptly, half confused. 

'Then it is decided,' he said with a wide smile. 'We will be married on the Winter Solstice.'

Rey was staring at him. 

'I wonder if there has ever been a marriage between a demon and a witch before.' He questioned aloud.

'You do not want to know that answer,' Rey mumbled. 

Ben's hand reached for her, his thumb stroking across her jaw, warriness in the set of his brow. 'Do you not want to? Say the word and I will take it back. I will do anything you ask.'

Rey looked down into their laps absently, her lower lip trembling as she steered herself against the tears that threatened to fall. Ben could sense them and he tilted her head back up so he could meet her eyes. She cried then, easily, and he wiped her tears, waiting for her to say something. 

'We will be family?' Her words were muffled and she struggled to say them out loud. 

Ben nodded, smiling gently. 'We should make it so I can marry you in the human way too. I want to be your family in every way possible.'

'I want that too,' she said easily, choking on the words through her tears. 

He stood, lifting Rey with him. Her arms clutched him tightly, dampening his jumper as he carried her to what was now their bedroom. 

'Maybe I should put you to bed, it's almost sunrise.'

'Let's not open the shop tomorrow,' she murmured against his neck. 

Ben huffed. ' _ I _ will open the shop.'

Rey groaned. 'That's not what I meant, Ben. You're supposed to stay in bed with me all day.'

'When you figure out how to make clones, then sure.'

She pouted, but most of her tears had gone and she let Ben sit her on the edge of the bed. As if by unspoken agreement, Ben reached to pull Rey's jumper over her head and he carefully folded the garment and placed it on the chair that sat in front of her vanity. He knelt as he undid the button and fly of her jeans and peeled her out of them, folding those too and hanging them over the chair’s back. The same with her socks and the thin t-shirt she had worn under her jumper. 

'I could have gotten undressed myself,' she mumbled with a smile. 

'But I want to do it.' His eyes were on her bra-covered chest and he swallowed, turning away from her to remove his own clothing, much to her annoyance. 

'Ben,' she moaned. 

He finally turned around when he was only in his boxers and she rolled her eyes, undoing the clasp on her bra, and pulling it over her arms. 

'I  _ was  _ putting you to bed,' he commented, eyes squarely on her nipples, his erection willingly straining towards her, tenting his boxers. 

Rey smiled, shifting backwards and removing her underwear as she went. 'Put me to bed this way, then.'

Ben breathed heavily and he followed Rey up and across the bedspread. She opened her arms up for him and he moved over her, her legs opening so he could manoeuvre himself in between them. Rey reached for the waist of his boxers and pulled them down, letting him kick them off his feet as he set about kissing her again. 

'I haven't done this in a long time,' Ben murmured against Rey's throat. Her hands were on his back and she groaned as he lathed his tongue across her neck.

'Neither have I,' she answered. 

His hand moved from her waist, sliding along her thigh, and his fingers glided easily through her wetness, the groan he let out at his discovery, low in his throat. Rey keened when his knuckle gently rubbed against the bundle of nerves he found there, and she looked up at him expectantly, his gaze meeting hers. 

'Next time we're taking more time.'

She laughed. 'If you say so, though I think I'll always be this ready for you.'

Ben narrowed his eyes, nibbling at her throat. 'I'm going to need to be extra careful around you, aren't I?'

'Yes,' she huffed as his knuckle drifted over her entrance. 'Please,' she added, reaching for him, trying to move herself closer to what she wanted. 

Ben lowered himself closer to her, their chests grazing, and his lips pressing kisses against hers. There was little preamble before he was gently sliding inside of her, Rey contracting and taking deep breaths to relax herself as he pushed deeper. 

They both groaned in time as Ben took a moment once she was full of him and then he was smiling with a closed mouth, kissing her cheeks until she opened her eyes.

'Let me see you,' he requested. 

Rey met his gaze, chewing on her lip as he pulled back slightly, and then pushed back into her at a slow pace. She could feel herself being stretched, every ridge of him inside of her and she struggled to hold his gaze. Her lips hurt at the force with which she bit them and she moaned as he continued. 

'Harder,' she panted. 

He obliged, and his next thrust had Rey groaning louder until she was biting into the meaty flesh of Ben's shoulder to quieten her noises, him not minding very much. 

'Is that good?' He asked, not even breathless. 

Rey nodded, feeling the force of his actions reverberate through her. Considering how long it had been since she'd last had sex, Rey wasn't surprised by how quickly she was reaching her peak. 

Her short nails reached for purchase on Ben's wide back and she arched against him, giving him better access to her neck and chest. His lips left searing marks across the tops of her breasts and she smiled, feeling elated by his touch.

The orgasm came upon her faster than she expected and Rey clutched onto Ben as she felt herself clench as he continued. He sped up, and Rey felt dizzy as he continued through her climax, adding to the next until she was crying out again. He huffed and Rey felt him spurt within her, his weight settling on her as he pressed his forehead into the crook of her shoulder. 

'I love you,' he said against her skin as she felt him fill her, his warmth slipping between them. 

'I love you,' she murmured back, her cheeks on fire from smiling. He turned them so they sat on their sides, still joined together, even as Ben had softened within her. 

His fingers pushed at her flyaways and Rey grinned, kissing his palm, her leg reaching to tuck comfortably over his thigh, keeping them close.

'We can’t stay like this,’ he said, taking steady breaths, feeling the gentle movements of Rey around him, coaxing him into hardening again, into repeating what they had just done, while he could see Rey’s eyes begin to flutter shut. 

She groaned in annoyance, squeezing him tighter, so he resorted to tickling her foot to get her to disconnect, and then he was cleaning them both up and turning out the light in the room. 

‘Just leave the shop closed tomorrow,’ Rey murmured, half-asleep. 

Ben chuckled, snuggling closer to Rey. She wrapped her arms and legs around him and eventually her breathing evened out until she was softly snoring against Ben’s chest. 

A nailed finger drew lines along her spine as she lay on top of him, and he watched how her face relaxed and how she clutched him tighter when he attempted to move. His arms wrapped around her, squeezing her gently and breathing in her smell. It was like persimmons and pine; sweet and earthy.

**XxX**

‘Rey, wake up...you can just smell the love in here.’ 

She blinked quickly, rubbing haphazardly at her eyes and looking around, hands reaching across the sheets for Ben and not finding him. After several moments of struggling, she noticed that Hux was standing over her and she was in her pyjamas. 

‘Are you going to work any time this year?’ He asked before sipping on his coffee, shoulders shaking in delight. 

‘Ben said he was opening the shop.’

‘Who’s Ben?’ Hux asked casually, before bursting out laughing at Rey’s distraught expression. ‘Your fiance makes a brilliant cup of coffee.’ 

Rey narrowed her eyes. ‘How do you know that?’

He scoffed. ‘Ben told me. Why? Is it supposed to be a secret?’ 

She glowered and her cousin smiled. ‘You sure you want a whole troop of half-demons running around?’

‘Who said there will be half-demons?’ Rey asked, kicking the covers away and pulling herself out of the bed. 

‘Did your parents not get to the birds and the bees?’ Hux pouted. She rubbed her face and yawned, then grabbed the remaining coffee from her cousin’s hand. Rey downed it and narrowed her eyes at him.

‘Why are you here and in my bedroom?’ 

‘Waking you up dear cousin, you made quite the surprise entrance last night.’ 

‘Was it really?’ 

Hux nodded. ‘Kaydel told absolutely everyone. The entire coven is very interested in meeting your new beau. I suppose they can’t complain about him being a demon either considering you were both marked.’ 

Rey huffed. 

‘Worked out better than you anticipated, then?’ He questioned, a wry grin on his lips. 

She pinched him and then slid out of bed and began her general stomp towards her bathroom. Hux followed her, chuckling and repeating the question.

‘If you behave like this, I’ll never tell you what the Soul Diviner told me,’ he added in a sing-song voice. 

_ Very unlike him _ , Rey considered. 

‘The Soul Diviner said that your perfect match is yourself,’ she mocked, stopping in the doorway of the bathroom and turning back to Hux.

He frowned. ‘Somewhat cruel, but I’ll allow it.’ Hux narrowed his eyes at her, seemingly studying her quite intently. ‘You expected trouble and now with none you don’t know how to proceed.’ He scratched his chin and frowned. ‘He won’t disappear, Rey.’ 

‘I know that,’ she mumbled.

‘I’m sorry,’ he added, shaking his head as if she wasn’t quite understanding him. ‘I realise I owe you an apology, so be cruel, I welcome it.’ 

Rey sighed, knocking her head against the wood of the door. ‘I won’t be. You only wanted what was best for me.’ 

‘No,’ he breathed out heavily, a hand rubbing across his face. ‘I wanted a quick solution to your melancholia and only isolated you. You hid how you felt for so long, and I didn’t help.’ 

‘If you feel so bad you can plan my wedding.’ 

His eyes sparkled then and Hux grinned. ‘I will absolutely do that.’ 

Rey realised her error, though he was already half way down the hall and towards the staircase before she could even get another word out. She sighed and closed the door behind her, taking a deep breath and turning the tap on the shower. 

Hux was right. She was waiting for something terrible to happen, she was waiting for everything to collapse on top of her, and the fact that it hadn’t already, confused Rey. She’d known loneliness for so long that to feel held, to feel the way that Ben made her feel was confounding. The last year had been frustrating, feeling constantly out of body yet having no justification for her own emotions; for the path her heart wanted to go on. 

Rey wiped quickly at tears that mixed with the water as she scrubbed at her skin, trying to rinse away her negative thoughts and to think solely of her future, of the things she still wanted to do, the plans she wanted to make. 

Her head ached from her crying and she deepened her breathing, turning the water cooler so that would at least take some of the redness from her cheeks away. It took a few well thought out breaths to calm her and she stood under the stream for a little longer, thinking of Ben and smiling. 

Ben was wiping down the coffee machine when Rey eventually found herself downstairs. There were a few cups on one of the tables, the bookshop empty for the time being, though she could hear some shuffling from the reading room. 

‘Sleep well?’ He asked, turning to watch her approach.

He had a bright blue beanie hat on and Rey grinned at seeing the colour, even when the jumper and jeans he had on were the deepest black. She nodded.

‘Your cousin left, said he had errands to run, but that he’d be back for dinner.’ 

Ben discarded the cloth in the small apron tied around his waist and looked to her, waiting for Rey to say something. 

‘You are excessively beautiful,’ she said. 

Her tone was matter of fact, and Ben blinked at her.

Rey found herself chuckling and walking steadily towards Ben. His eyebrows were raised but when she stopped in front of him, he reached for her carefully, his hand against her cheek, thumb rubbing the puffy skin beneath her eyes.

‘You were crying again.’

‘What happened to your hands?’

‘Your cousin did it.’ He was briefly distracted and he glanced at the nails on his fingers, shortened but still black.

‘I don’t like it.’ 

Ben chuckled and he leaned forward to kiss her, but Rey moved away, seemingly having more to say. He waited, breathing steadily, his eyes tracing every angle of her face, his hands now in hers. He could feel her shaking and he grew anxious as she stayed silent.

‘Your power?’ She asked.

‘Still accounted for.’ He answered, and Rey caught the fissure develop between his brows, and she squeezed his hand, prompting him to continue. ‘It isn’t waning yet, but it feels different.’ Ben sighed, knocking his forehead against hers gently. ‘Tell me, your expression worries me.’ 

Rey shook her head, taking a deep breath. ‘I’m just frightened that you’ll have to leave.’ 

He huffed, both hands taking her face and tilting it up to look at him. ‘I’m not going anywhere. Why do you think I’m happy to embarrass myself by wearing this apron?’

‘You look great in that apron.’ 

‘Oh really?’ He smirked, and pressed an easy kiss to her lips. 

Rey nodded and her arms reached to wrap around his neck while his fell to her waist, squeezing her tightly. ‘I’m going to hand barista duties to you, so I can look at you from the till.’ 

Ben chuckled, the laugh melting against Rey’s lips as he kissed her again. Long and filled with a soothing warmth that settled over Rey, so when they separated, she found herself holding his gaze carefully, her heart beating quickly. 

‘Even when I’m out of your sight, I’ll be here. I am yours. To eternity and back.’ 

Rey nodded, her eyes closing as Ben pressed a kiss against her forehead and then let her go. She watched him as he moved to the coffee machine again, going to work as if he had suddenly become a pro barista in a matter of hours, and a few minutes later he turned back to her with a flat white. 

‘Try this.’ 

She narrowed her eyes but sipped at the coffee and then frowned. ‘How is your coffee better than mine?’ 

Ben laughed and watched as Rey trudged to the back of the shop, her beverage clutched carefully in her hands so none was wasted. 

‘I’m a fast learner,’ he called out to her, hearing her continued grumbles. 

A door opened and closed and then Rey was walking back, half of the coffee already gone. ‘Can I have a refill, please?’ She questioned, looking rather sour. 

Ben smiled and took the cup from her, placing it down on the side. Before Rey could complain, his hands were on her cheek and waist, and he was kissing her soundly. Enough to make her quiet, enough to make everything else melt away. 

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to let me know what you think.


End file.
